The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Mongolia next week. The trip will be Putin’s first to a member country of the International Criminal Court since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the president in March last year over suspected war crimes in Ukraine.
The Russian presidential office announced on Thursday that Putin will pay an official visit to Mongolia on September 3 to participate in “the ceremonial events dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armed forces” over the now-defunct Imperial Japanese military in 1939.
Mongolia, as an ICC member, is obliged to detain Putin if he sets foot on its soil. However, a prior agreement is believed to have been reached between the two countries for Mongolia not to arrest Putin, given that his visit is reportedly at an invitation by the Mongolian side.
In the lead up to the summit meeting of the BRICS bloc of five emerging economies in August last year in South Africa, an ICC member, there was much speculation about whether Putin would attend. However, he eventually decided against attending in person.