ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday (Sep 2), his first go to to a member of the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) because the courtroom issued an arrest warrant for him final 12 months.
Russian state tv confirmed Putin’s airplane touchdown within the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.
The Russian leader is wanted by the Hague-based court for the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian kids.
Kyiv has urged Mongolian authorities to execute the arrest warrant, whereas the ICC mentioned final week that every one members had an “obligation” to detain these sought by the courtroom.
In apply, there’s little that may be accomplished if Ulaanbaatar doesn’t comply, and the Kremlin mentioned final week it was not involved that Putin could be arrested whereas he was in Mongolia.
PLANNED RUSSIA-CHINA GAS PIPELINE THROUGH MONGOLIA
Mongolia lies on the route of a deliberate new gasoline pipeline connecting Russia and China to hold 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of pure gasoline a 12 months from the Yamal area to China by way of Mongolia.
The undertaking, Energy of Siberia 2, is a part of Russia’s technique to compensate for the lack of most of its gasoline gross sales in Europe because the begin of the Ukraine battle.
It’s the deliberate successor to an current pipeline of the identical identify which already provides Russian gasoline to China and is because of attain its deliberate capability of 38 bcm per 12 months in 2025.
ICC ISSUED PUTIN ARREST WARRANT IN MARCH 2023
Putin’s journey to Mongolia comes regardless of Mongolia being a member of the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant for him in March 2023.
The courtroom mentioned it had “cheap grounds to consider” that he “bears duty for the battle crime of illegal deportation” of Ukrainian kids – dwelling in areas of the nation that Russian forces took management of – to Russia.
Kyiv says hundreds of Ukrainian kids had been forcibly deported from orphanages and different state establishments after Russian forces took management of swathes of the nation in its 2022 invasion.
Russia says it moved some kids for his or her safety and has dismissed the warrant as having no consequence.
After the Russian president touched down Monday night, Amnesty Worldwide warned {that a} failure to arrest him may additional embolden the ex-KGB spy, in energy for nearly 1 / 4 of a century.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, govt director of Amnesty Worldwide Mongolia mentioned in a press release.
“Any journey to an ICC member state that doesn’t finish in arrest will encourage President Putin’s present plan of action and should be seen as a part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”
