Putin arrives in Mongolia, a member of ICC that issued arrest warrant

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin is paying an official visit to Mongolia, his first in five years, TASS news agency reports. 

Putin arrived in Mongolia at the invitation of the Mongolian leader, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, on Monday evening. The invitation was extended at a meeting in Beijing last fall.

Putin’s visit to Mongolia is his first to a member state of the ICC since the Hague-based court issued a warrant for his arrest last year. The warrant obliges the court’s 124-member states to detain Putin for extradition should he set foot on their soil, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said before the trip that Moscow “has no concerns” that “our friends from Mongolia” would act on the court order, RT reported. 

The ICC issued the warrant in March 2023, accusing Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of the “unlawful deportation” of children from “occupied areas of Ukraine.” Moscow rejected the accusations as absurd, according to RT. 

Like five years ago, the Russian president will attend festivities marking the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian troops over the Japanese militarists on the Khalkhin Gol River. Also, he will hold substantive talks and a number of bilateral meetings. His visit will be crowned with a gala reception.

During their talks, the two leaders will discuss "prospects for further developing Russian-Mongolian relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on current international and regional issues," the Kremlin has announced.

Among other issues, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov has announced, the two leaders will discuss cooperation between Moscow and Ulaanbaatar in industrial production, agriculture and railway transport.

The focus will be on education, including programs to expand teaching in Russian and training Mongolian youths at Russian universities, Ushakov has said.

Putin is also expected to meet with Chairman of the State Great Khural (parliament) of Mongolia Dashzegve Amarbayasgalan and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene.

Major bilateral documents will be signed following the visit. Among them is a memorandum on joint work to preserve Lake Baikal and the transborder Selenga River, Mongolia’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change S. Odontuya told TASS.

The 85th anniversary of the battle of Khalkhin Gol is a central occasion. Putin highlighted its importance for Soviet-Mongolian and then Russian-Mongolian friendship in a message of congratulations he had sent to Khurelsukh earlier. Russian presidents have paid special attention to these anniversaries since at least 2004.