Russia Ukraine war latest: Mongolia refuses to arrest Putin as Kiev halts Russian advance in the east

The Kremlin said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had arrived on a state visit in Mongolia, which lies on the route of a planned new gas pipeline linking Russia and China.

Russia has been in talks for years about building a pipeline that would transport 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually from the Yamal region via Mongolia to China.

The project, Power of Siberia 2, is part of Russia’s strategy to make up for the loss of most of its gas sales in Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine. It is the planned successor to an existing pipeline of the same name that already delivers Russian gas to China and is expected to reach its planned capacity of 38 bcm per year in 2025.

The new venture has long been bogged down in key issues such as gas prices. However, Putin said on the eve of his visit that preparatory work, including feasibility and engineering studies, was proceeding according to schedule.

He will hold talks with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Tuesday.

Ukraine last week called on Mongolia to arrest Putin based on an arrest warrant issued last year by the International Criminal Court, which accused Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

The Kremlin has rejected the accusation, saying it was politically motivated and saying it was not concerned about Putin’s trip.

The order obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their soil.

Asked whether there had been talks with Mongolian authorities about the ICC order, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that “all aspects of the visit were thoroughly discussed.”

In a career spanning four decades, journalist Askold Krushelnycky has seen the brutality of the Russian regime firsthand. But now that Ukraine is gaining a foothold in Kursk, could the tide finally be turning?

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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said Mongolia’s failure to arrest Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who was wanted on an international arrest warrant, was a major blow to the international criminal justice system.

Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday for talks on a new gas pipeline linking Russia and China.

Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, obliging the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their soil.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said Mongolia’s failure to detain Putin “is a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the criminal justice system.

“Mongolia allowed an accused criminal to escape justice, thereby sharing responsibility for war crimes,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine, he said, would work with its allies to ensure that Mongolia faced the consequences.

Ukraine last week urged Mongolia to arrest Putin during his visit.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was not worried about any action in connection with the order. He said Russia had had “a great dialogue” with Mongolia and that all aspects of the visit had been discussed in advance.

The ICC warrant accuses Putin of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has rejected the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said he met with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu on Monday to discuss the situation on the front and air defense.

Umerov said on Facebook that officials of the Ukrainian General Staff had briefed Lecornu about the situation on the battlefield and the urgent needs of Kiev’s troops in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Joint projects in the defense industry were also discussed, he added.

Russia has indicated that it will make changes to the doctrine that describes the circumstances under which it can use nuclear weapons.

The current doctrine was outlined by President Vladimir Putin in a six-page decree in June 2020. It states, in part: “The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and (or) its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons, when the existence of the state itself is endangered.”

Because this risk is not explicitly defined, Putin could make thinly veiled threats to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal to deter a direct Western response to his February 2022 troop deployment to Ukraine.

Putin’s point man for arms control, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said Sunday that the planned changes were “related to the escalation course of our Western adversaries” over the conflict in Ukraine. He did not refer to specific events. The public debate over nuclear doctrine has been going on for more than a year and intensified this year after French President Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility — rejected by NATO allies — that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine to fight.