The European Union has expressed regret that the Mongolian authorities decided to host Russian president Vladimir Putin and ignored the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant.
Putin’s visit to Mongolia on September 3 was his first visit to a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC after the court issued an arrest warrant for him in March 2023 for his involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
“The EU expresses its strongest support for efforts to ensure full accountability for war crimes and the other most serious crimes in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In this regard, the EU supports the investigations by the Prosecutor of the ICC in Ukraine and calls for full cooperation by all State Parties,” the EU statement reads.
Spokesperson for the EU External Action Service, Peter Stano, noted that the EU noted Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ulaanbaatar, despite the fact that Mongolia is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and should have detained Putin on the warrant of the ICC prosecutor.
“The EU regrets that Mongolia, a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, has not fulfilled its obligations under it to execute the arrest warrant… The EU expresses its strongest support for efforts to ensure full accountability for war crimes and other serious crimes in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Peter Stano said.
He noted that the EU supports the ICC prosecutor’s investigations into the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war and calls on all countries party to the Rome Statute to cooperate fully in this regard.
The US urges countries not to provide Putin with a platform to promote a war of aggression
The US State Department, commenting on the visit of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to Mongolia, called on countries not to provide him with a platform to promote his war of aggression. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller made this statement at a briefing on September 3.
He emphasized that the United States believes that no country should provide Putin with a platform to advance his war of aggression against Ukraine.
“We do expect Mongolia to adhere to its commitment and its support for the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity, and convey that those principles must be upheld around the world. We understand the position that Mongolia is in, sandwiched between two much larger neighbors, but we do think it’s important that they continue to support the rule of law around the world,” Matthew Miller said.
At the same time, he expressed understanding of Mongolia’s position, sandwiched between two much larger neighbors.
“We do very much understand the difficult position that Mongolia is in. It’s a much smaller country between two neighbors. We look to continue to support Mongolia, but we do think it’s important that they uphold their international obligations. And it’s important that if they do communicate with Russia that they make clear that they support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Miller said.
Mongolia says it did not arrest Putin because of its dependence on Russia
Mongolia did not comply with the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of war criminal Vladimir Putin because of its energy dependence on Russia. Politico reports that a spokesperson for the Mongolian government made this comment.
The Mongolian authorities representative stated that the country is in a state of energy dependence, which complicates the possibility of arresting Putin under the ICC warrant.
“Mongolia imports 95% of its petroleum products and more than 20% of its electricity from our immediate neighbors (there are only two of them: Russia and China, ed.), and we have suffered from interruptions for technical reasons in the past. These supplies are crucial to ensure our existence and the existence of our people,” the spokesman said.
He emphasized that Mongolia “has always adhered to a policy of neutrality in all its diplomatic relations, as confirmed by our official statements.”
The Mongolian government spokesperson also added that Putin’s visit is in line with the historical precedent of the heads of state jointly celebrating the anniversary of the victory of Soviet and Mongolian troops over Japan in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, which is the formal pretext for the Kremlin’s current visit.
Putin’s visit to Mongolia on September 3 was his first visit to a state party to the ICC’s Rome Statute after the court issued an arrest warrant for him in March 2023.
Ukraine: It’s a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called Mongolia’s refusal to comply with the mandatory arrest warrant for Putin “a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the international criminal law system.”
Members of the European Parliament, including Urmas Paet, deputy chairman of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, have called on EU High Representative Josep Borrell to react to the behavior of Mongolia, a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), if the country does not arrest Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who arrived there on Monday for a visit.
