Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to travel abroad despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Putin is due to visit Mongolia on Tuesday. Russia’s neighbour recognises the court’s authority and is therefore technically obliged to honour the arrest warrant issued in March 2023.
But Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the threat of arrest, saying Friday: “We are not worried. We have a great dialogue with our friends in Mongolia.”
This is Putin’s first trip to an ICC member state since launching his all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022. Last year, for example, he skipped a BRICS meeting in South Africa.
When asked whether the arrest warrant had been a problem in preparing for the trip to Mongolia, Peskov answered in the affirmative.
“Of course, all aspects of the visit were prepared down to the last detail,” he said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
The Kremlin reported that Putin is traveling to the country at the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh to expand cooperation.
Mongolia has sought good relations with its powerful neighbors China and Russia, while also maintaining ties with the West. Given its economic dependence on Russia, it is considered unlikely that the country would jeopardize relations by arresting Putin.
The ICC accuses Putin of being responsible for the abduction and deportation of children and minors from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Moscow calls the incidents evacuations.
