EU ‘regrets’ Mongolia didn’t arrest Putin

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union on Tuesday criticised Mongolia for failing to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the country.

“The EU regrets that Mongolia, a State Party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, did not comply with its obligations under the statute to execute the arrest warrant,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement.

The Russian president was welcomed by honour guards and red carpets in the Mongolian capital, on his first visit to an ICC member since it issued a warrant for his arrest last year.

Putin landed in Ulaanbaatar last night at the start of a high-profile trip seen as a show of defiance against the court, Ukraine, the west and rights groups that have all called for him to be detained.

He met Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh at Ulaanbaatar’s imposing Genghis Khan Square, also known as Sukhbaatar Square.

A band played martial tunes and the Russian and Mongolian national anthems as the two leaders stood in the square near Mongolian soldiers in traditional costume, some of them on horseback.

Putin is wanted by the Hague-based ICC for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children since his troops invaded the country in 2022.

Ukraine has reacted furiously to the trip, accusing Mongolia of “sharing responsibility” for Putin’s “war crimes” after authorities did not detain him at the airport.