Mongolia refused to arrest Vladimir Putin despite there being an international warrant out for him for war crimes.
Kyiv urged Mongolia to execute the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant, issued last year, insisting it had an “obligation” to do so given it is a member of the ICC.
But the Russian leader was instead welcomed by a guard of honour as he landed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, to begin his high-profile trip.
Amnesty International warned that Mongolia’s failure to arrest Putin could undermine the court’s legitimacy and embolden the Russian leader.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia, said in a statement.
“Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin’s current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”
Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin after he was accused of abducting children from Ukraine.
He has since restricted international visits to countries that are not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC.
But that changed on Monday when he visited for the first time a country that is a member of the court and, therefore, supposed to act upon the court’s warrants.
However, those who want to see Putin brought to justice held little hope the country would carry out the court’s wishes.
Mongolia is a landlocked country that is highly dependent on Moscow for fuel and electricity.
It has also refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has abstained during votes on the war at the United Nations.
Putin was welcomed in a ceremony in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, on Monday by an honour guard dressed in uniforms styled by Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire.
The Russian leader was joined by Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the Mongolian president, as he walked up the red-carpeted steps of the government palace.
The visit comes as Putin claims Russian troops are “advancing rapidly” in eastern Ukraine, as it continues its assault on the city of Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub targeted for months by Moscow.
Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that Ukrainian forces have faced difficulty on the eastern front, particularly near Pokrovsk, but said Russian forces had not advanced for two days.