The ICC prosecutor: Mongolia will have to explain to The Hague its refusal to arrest Putin

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan said that Mongolia will have to explain why it did not arrest the leader of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during his visit to the country.

He stated this in an interview with the Russian BBC News service.

Since Mongolia recognizes the jurisdiction of ICC, it should have executed the warrant for Putinʼs arrest. However, it did not do this.

"The negotiation process is being conducted at the court level. Judges can give their recommendations in case they find a lack of cooperation. But I donʼt want to predict anything, because now this issue is being resolved between the judges and the government of Mongolia," says Karim Khan.

Asked by BBC whether Putin would be tried in The Hague, Karim Khan mentioned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

"People laughed when the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sought arrest warrants for Karadzic and Mladic, not to mention Milosevic. But, as history shows, these people, who in the past wielded great power in their country and in the region, eventually ended up on the dock," the prosecutor summarized.

What preceded

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights in the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegally deporting Ukrainian children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia, which is a war crime. Putin and Lvova-Belova should be arrested as official suspects in countries that have ratified the Rome Statute. De jure, 123 countries are closed to them, including Mongolia, which ratified it in 2002.

After issuing the warrant, Putin traveled only to Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, China, the DPRK, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Azerbaijan. These countries have not ratified the Rome Statute, so they are not obliged to comply with the ICCʼs order.

However, during Putinʼs visit to Mongolia on September 2-3 — his first visit to an ICC member state after the issuance of a warrant for his arrest — he was not arrested. As later explained in Mongolia, allegedly due to the countryʼs dependence on Russian energy products.