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Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Mongolia Tuesday (Sep 3), defying an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued last year. It’s his first visit to an ICC member nation since the Hague-based court found Putin guilty of illegally deporting Ukrainian children when the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

As the West and Ukraine urged Mongolia to detain the visiting president, Putin was given an honour guard the night before he landed in the country.

Ahead of the visit, the ICC had reminded Mongolia of an "obligation" to detain those sought by the court. On Monday (Sep 2), Kyiv accused Mongolia of "sharing responsibility" for Putin's war crimes

In Mongolia, small protests have been seen and planned to mark opposition to the visit by Putin. A protest was seen at Sukhbaatar Square, the capital's central Genghis Khan Square, with people holding signs demanding "Get War Criminal Putin out of here". Another small protest has been planned for Tuesday.

Will Mongolia face prosecution for not arresting Putin?

Even if Ulaanbaatar doesn’t comply with the ICC warrant against Putin, there’s little that can be done to punish the East Asian nation.

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However, Tamás Hoffmann, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Legal Studies, was quoted as saying by Politico that Mongolia will most certainly be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for breaching its duty of cooperation.

The ICC may then decide to refer the case to the Assembly of Parties, which could condemn Mongolia’s violation under a so-called non-compliance procedure. However, there are no serious consequences, such as sanctions, for the offending country, the legal expert claimed.


Mongolia enjoys strong cultural ties with Moscow. It has promoted ties with both Russia and China, the two giant neighbours, since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Monday that ICC’s legitimacy would be severely harmed if Mongolia fails to detain Putin.