The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine announced the démarche of Mongolia due to Putinʼs visit

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine announced the démarche of Mongolia due to the visit of the leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to this country.

This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Putin arrived in Mongolia on September 2. It was his first visit to a member state of the International Criminal Court after issuing a warrant for his arrest, but Mongolia did not arrest him — as it later explained, allegedly because of "energy dependence on Russia."

Ukraine "showed deep disappointment" to the Mongolian side during a meeting with the Director General of the Department of Europe and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, Ganhuurai Battungalag, who arrived in Kyiv from Ulaanbaatar at the invitation of the Ukrainian side.

"Ukraine will not leave such actions without a proper reaction. This will be taken into account in the further policy regarding the development of bilateral relations with Mongolia and during the development of Ukraineʼs position regarding support in international formats," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noted.

At the same time, Ukraine hopes that Mongolia will take "effective steps" to restore the constructive nature of Ukrainian-Mongolian relations.

What preceded

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights in the Russian Federation. 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 (and this is 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.

The International Criminal Court stated that Mongolia would have to explain to The Hague its refusal to arrest Putin.