EPAThe President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, arrived in Mongolia, which is the first time he has visited a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued a warrant for his arrest last year.
He was received by the Mongolian leader in a surprise ceremony in the Asian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.
The Russian leader is wanted by the court for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
A spokesman for the Kremlin said it did not matter whether Mr Putin would be arrested during the visit.
Troops on horseback lined the capital’s Genghis Khan Square as military anthems were played by the welcoming party for the Russian leader, who met with Mongolian president Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
A group of protesters gathered in the square on Monday afternoon, holding signs that read “Get Putin the War Criminal out of here”.
Another protest is planned for Tuesday at noon at the Politically Oppressed Memorial in Ulaanbaatar, which commemorates those who suffered under Mongolia’s decades-long Soviet-backed communist regime.
Some protesters were prevented from approaching the Russian president when security forces arrived.
Before his visit, Ukraine had urged Mongolia to arrest Mr Putin.
“We ask the Mongolian authorities to comply with the international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said in Telegram.
The court last year accused the Russian president of war crimes, focusing on the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
It also issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, on similar charges.
It alleges that the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale attack.
Moscow previously denied the allegations and said the warrants were “very serious”.
ReutersICC members are expected to arrest the suspects once an arrest warrant has been issued, but there is no way to enforce it.
The Hague-based court last week said the members had a “responsibility” to take action. Mongolia has not publicly responded to Ukraine or the ICC call.
The former Soviet satellite state has maintained friendly relations with Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It did not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and refused to vote on the conflict at the United Nations.
The landlocked country, which also borders China, relies on Russia for gas and electricity.
Russia has been in talks for years about building a pipeline that would carry 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year from its Yamal region to China via Mongolia.
The project, known as Power of Siberia 2it is part of a strategy to compensate for the drop in gas sales in Europe, following the widespread boycott of Russian services due to the invasion of Ukraine.
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