Putin arrives in ICC member Mongolia for diplomatic visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday, his first visit to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the court issued an arrest warrant for him last year.

Russian state television showed Putin's plane landing in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

The Russian leader is wanted by the Hague-based court for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv has urged Mongolian authorities to execute the arrest warrant, while the ICC said last week that all members had an "obligation" to detain those sought by the court.

In practice there is little that can be done if Ulaanbaatar does not comply, and the Kremlin said last week it was not concerned that Putin would be arrested while he was in Mongolia.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, saying it had "reasonable grounds to believe" that he "bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation" of Ukrainian children -- living in areas of the country that Russian forces took control of -- to Russia.

Kyiv says thousands of Ukrainian children were forcibly deported from orphanages and other state institutions after Russian forces took control of swathes of the country in its 2022 invasion.

Russia says it moved some children for their protection.

It has dismissed the warrant as having no consequence, but this trip to Mongolia marks Putin's first to an ICC member in the 18 months since it was issued.

After the Russian president touched down Monday evening, Amnesty International warned that a failure to arrest him could further embolden the ex-KGB spy, in power for almost a quarter of a century.

"President Putin is a fugitive from justice," Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia said in a statement.

"Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin's current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC's work."