Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Mongolia next week at the invitation of its president, the Kremlin has said.
"There are no worries, we have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, adding that Moscow and Ulaanbaatar discussed "all aspects of the visit".
Mongolia is among the signatories of the Rome Statute, the treaty governing the International Criminal Court (ICC), making it technically bound to comply with the court's demands.
The visit, scheduled for September 3, will be Putin's first trip to an ICC member state since the warrant issued in March 2023 over suspected war crimes in Ukraine.
Under the Rome Statute, ICC members are bound to detain suspects for whom the court has issued an arrest warrant if they set foot on their soil.
According to the Kremlin, Putin will visit Mongolia to commemorate the 1939 Soviet-Mongolian victory over Japan in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
“The heads of state will discuss prospects for further development of the Russian-Mongolian comprehensive strategic partnership,” the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday.
Mongolia, a longtime ally of Russia, has maintained a neutral stance on the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, making it unlikely that Ulaanbaatar would detain Putin.
Enforcement mechanism
A similar situation occurred last year when South Africa, which is also a Rome Statute signatory, sought an exemption to allow the Russian leader to attend a BRICS summit. Putin ultimately chose to skip the event.
ICC doesn't have any enforcement mechanism. In a famous case, then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir wasn't arrested in 2015 when he visited South Africa, sparking condemnation by rights activists and the country’s main opposition party.
The Kremlin, which had previously stressed that it doesn't recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC, didn't comment on the prospects of Putin being arrested in Mongolia.
Last, year, the Kremlin also bristled at old ally Armenia over its decision to join the ICC, adding to the growing tensions between Moscow and Yerevan. Armenian officials, however, quickly sought to assure Russia that Putin wouldn't be arrested if he entered the country.
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