Vladimir Putin to be arrested ? Russian President Wanted in Arrest Warrant to Travel to ICC Member State

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children, will travel to Mongolia on Tuesday, an ICC member state that is supposed to arrest him once he enters its territory.

"Putin will pay an official visit to Mongolia on September 3,", the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday. This will be the Russian president's first trip to a state that is a signatory to the Rome Statute since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him in March 2023.

Charges dismissed

Mongolia signed the Rome Statute in 2000 and ratified it in 2002. However, each member state is required to arrest anyone on its soil who is the subject of an ICC arrest warrant, which is the case for Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has always strongly rejected the ICC charges against the Russian president.

60~p>However, Vladimir Putin has been careful for almost a year and a half to avoid traveling abroad, for example skipping the BRICS summit in South Africa in August 2023, then the G20 summit in India in September of the same year.

On the other hand, he notably visited China last May, North Korea in June, and Azerbaijan in mid-August, none of these countries being members of the ICC.

In Mongolia, the Russian head of state is going “at the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, according to the Kremlin, “to participate in the celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armed forces over the Japanese militarists” in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

The “development of Russian-Mongolian relations”

The two leaders are scheduled to hold talks and will discuss prospects for the development of Russian-Mongolian relations, the Kremlin said. Putin and Ukhnaa Khurelsukh will exchange views on current international and regional issues, the Kremlin added, adding that a number of bilateral documents will be signed on the occasion. The Russian president's last visit to Mongolia was in September 2019.

Mongolia, a country rich in natural resources, is located in East Asia, landlocked between Russia and China, and has a vast territory (three times the size of metropolitan France). However, it only has 3.4 million inhabitants.

In early August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar to present himself as “a central partner” of Washington in the region. This visit was part of a stated desire by the United States to increase its influence in this vast country, also coveted by its Russian and Chinese rivals.

French President Emmanuel Macron also visited Mongolia in May 2023, with whom Paris wants to strengthen bilateral energy ties.