The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Ukrainian government on Friday (30) asked Mongolia to arrest Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Asian country next Tuesday (3).
In March last year, the ICC ordered Putin’s arrest for illegally deporting Ukrainian minors to Russia since the start of the invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022. However, Moscow does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction because it withdrew its signature from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, in 2016.
“We call on the Mongolian authorities to comply with the mandatory international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.
In a statement, the ICC recalled that Mongolia is a State Party to the Rome Statute and that it relies on them and other partners to execute its decisions, including in relation to arrest warrants.
“States parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC are obliged to cooperate in accordance with Chapter IX of the Rome Statute, while non-States parties may decide to cooperate voluntarily,” the court recalled, warning that “in the event of non-cooperation, the ICC judges may issue a finding to that effect” and report it to the Assembly of States Parties, which would then take “such measures as it deems appropriate.”
On Friday, the Kremlin indicated that it does not fear that Putin will be arrested in Mongolia. “No, we are not worried. We have a very good dialogue with our friends in Mongolia,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded when asked if there were any concerns about the Russian dictator’s possible arrest in the neighboring country.
Peskov added that “all aspects of the visit were thoroughly prepared.”
This will be Putin’s first visit to an ICC member state since the court issued the arrest warrant for the Russian dictator last year. (With EFE Agency)
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