Putin is lavishly welcomed in Mongolia despite ICC mandate from Reuters

(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin received a red-carpet welcome on Tuesday on a state visit to Mongolia, whose failure to arrest him under an International Criminal Court warrant was criticized by Ukraine as a blow to the judiciary .

As he stepped out of his limousine in the capital Ulaanbaatar, Putin was greeted by his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in front of a line of ceremonial guards on horseback wearing spiked helmets.

The Kremlin leader bent down to kiss a young woman who stepped forward to greet him in Russian and offer flowers.

An International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued last year against Putin obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their soil.

Mongolia’s failure to act was “a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the criminal justice system,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said.

“Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for war crimes,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine, he said, will work with its allies to ensure Mongolia feels the consequences.

The ICC mandate accuses Putin of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has rejected the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that Moscow had no worries about any action on the mandate, as Russia had a “big dialogue” with Mongolia and all aspects of the visit had been discussed beforehand.

“Relations with Mongolia are among the priorities of our foreign policy in Asia. They were brought to a high level of comprehensive strategic partnership,” Putin told Khurelsukh.

The Mongolian leader said he hoped the visit would boost trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Mongolia is in the planned route of a major pipeline that Russia wants to build to transport 50 billion cubic meters a year from its Yamal region to China.

The project, Power of Siberia 2, is part of Russia’s strategy to compensate for the loss of most gas sales in Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine. It is the planned successor to an existing pipeline of the same name that already supplies Russian gas to China and is set to reach a planned capacity of 38 billion cubic meters per year in 2025.

The new venture has long been stalled by key issues such as gas prices. However, Putin said on the eve of his visit that preparatory work, including feasibility and engineering studies, was proceeding according to schedule.