Putin arrives in Mongolia, a member of the ICC that issued an arrest warrant for him

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived last night in Mongolia, a member of the international court that issued an arrest warrant for him.

The official visit, in which he is to meet today with Mongolian leader Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, is Putin’s first to a member country of the International Criminal Court since it issued a warrant for his arrest nearly 18 months ago on charges of war crimes in Ukraine.

Ukraine has called on Mongolia to arrest Putin and hand him over to the court in The Hague. A spokesperson for Putin said last week that the Kremlin isn’t worried about the visit.

Members of the international court are bound to detain suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued, but the court doesn’t have any enforcement mechanism.

Mongolia, a sparsely populated country between Russia and China, is heavily dependent on the former for fuel and electricity and on the latter for investment in its mining industry.

The ICC has accused Putin of being responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine, where the fighting has raged for 2½ years.