Russian President Vladimir Putin received a red carpet welcome to Mongolia, as the country ignored calls to arrest him on an international warrant for alleged war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The trip, which concluded on Tuesday night, was Mr Putin’s first to a member nation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued the warrant in March 2023.
Ahead of his visit, Ukraine urged Mongolia to hand Mr Putin over to the court in The Hague, and the European Union expressed concern that Mongolia might not execute the warrant.
The warrant put the Mongolian government in a difficult position.
After decades under communism with close ties to the Soviet Union, it transitioned to democracy in the 1990s and built relations with the United States, Japan and other new partners.
But the landlocked country remains economically dependent on its two much larger and more powerful neighbours, Russia and China.
The ICC has accused Mr Putin of being responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine.
Member countries are required to detain suspects if a warrant has been issued, but Mongolia needs to maintain its ties with Russia and the court lacks a mechanism to enforce its warrants.
The Russian leader was welcomed in the main square in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, by an honour guard dressed in vivid red and blue uniforms styled on those of the personal guard of 13th century ruler Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire.
A throng of people watched from behind temporary barriers as Mr Putin and Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa walked up the red-carpeted steps of the Government Palace and bowed towards a statue of Genghis Khan before entering the building for their meetings.
A small group of protesters who tried to unfurl a Ukrainian flag before the ceremony were taken away by police.
Five others who gathered a few streets west of the square held up an anti-Putin banner and Ukrainian flag but disbanded after hearing about the arrests.
As Mr Putin was welcomed in Mongolia, his forces struck a military training facility and nearby hospital in Poltava, Ukraine, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200 others, the country’s president said.
The strike appeared to be one of the deadliest by Russian forces since the war began on February 24 2022.
Mongolia and Russia signed agreements to design and study the feasibility of a power plant upgrade in Ulaanbaatar and to ensure the supply of Russian aviation fuel to Mongolia.
Another agreement covered an environmental study of a river where Mongolia wants to build a hydroelectric plant that Russia is concerned would pollute Lake Baikal on the Russian side.
Mr Putin also outlined plans to develop the rail system between the countries.
He invited the Mongolian president to attend a summit of the Brics nations – a group that includes Russia and China among others – in the Russian city of Kazan in late October.
Mr Khurelsukh accepted, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
The visit ended on Tuesday night, with an honour guard lining Mr Putin’s walk to his plane.
