September 4 () –
The Kremlin said Wednesday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) “will not be a limitation” on Russia’s diplomatic relations with other countries, following an official trip by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Mongolia, a member of the Rome Statute which, however, has not arrested the president despite the arrest warrant issued against him by the body.
“The whole issue with the ICC, which we do not recognise, cannot and will not be a limitation for the development of relations between Russia and its partners, states interested in developing bilateral relations and implementing international treaties,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“This is something we can say unequivocally,” he stressed, before arguing that “the global majority has a much broader vision of the possibilities of international cooperation than the blinkers put on by the ICC,” as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
He thus opened the door for Putin to make more visits to ICC member countries and stressed that Moscow is guided “by the great country in the country by the global majority.” “We ourselves have shown interest and will implement these plans,” Peskov added.
Putin’s visit to Mongolia, his first to the Asian country since 2019, has taken on special significance mainly because the Russian president had not visited an ICC member state since the arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023, linked to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, considered a potential war crime, came into force.
The court also called for the arrest of Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Alekseievna Lvova-Belova, while this year it has requested the arrest of former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov.
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