After Putin escapes arrest in Mongolia, Kremlin says no one can stop Russia – NBC New York

• There was more than a hint of smug satisfaction coming from the Kremlin on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Mongolia earlier in the week went smoothly.
• Putin was given a red carpet welcome, met his Mongolian counterpart and discussed trade and bilateral relations. He was not arrested.
• The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia could not be prevented from building relations with other “interested” countries.

There was more than a hint of smug satisfaction coming from the Kremlin on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Mongolia earlier in the week went smoothly – despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant pending against the visit.

Putin received a red carpet welcome, met his Mongolian counterpart and discussed trade and bilateral relations with a country that is known to want its trade and investment and will not shy away from invading Ukraine.

But the real advantage for the Kremlin is that its president was not arrested during the trial.

As a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mongolia was obliged to arrest and detain Putin when he landed on Mongolian soil on Monday evening. An international arrest warrant from the ICC has been in place against him since March 2023. He is accused of war crimes related to the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

The Kremlin says it does not recognize the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. In the event of his state visit to Ulan Bator, Mongolia decided to ignore its obligation to arrest Putin. This has brought trouble on the court, Ukraine and its European allies, who have strongly criticized the decision.

Following the success of the trip, during which Putin and Mongolian President Uchnaagiin Churelsuch signed contracts on the supply of energy and petroleum products, the construction of a nuclear power plant and environmental protection, the Kremlin said that institutions such as the ICC could not harm Russia's relations with the “global majority”.

“The whole story with the ICC … cannot and will not be a limitation in the development of Russia's relations with partner states that are interested in developing bilateral relations and maintaining international contacts,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Google translation by the Russian state news agency Tass.

“The global majority has a much broader vision of the prospects for international cooperation than the blinkered views of the ICC,” he added.

Peskov concluded that there was “great interest in the country from the global majority.”

“And we are interested too,” he said.

According to analysts, economically weak Mongolia faces a difficult choice: on the one hand, it must comply with the ICC ruling and, on the other hand, deepen lucrative relations with its powerful neighbor Russia, on whose oil and gas supplies it is largely dependent. Mongolia also lies on the route of a planned gas pipeline that is intended to connect its most important trading partners and neighbors Russia and China.

Russia, which is facing massive sanctions from the West over its ongoing war against Ukraine, is looking for an opportunity to undermine global – and Western – institutions. The trip to Mongolia was another means of achieving that goal.

Elena Davlikanova, a democracy expert at the Center for European Policy Analysis, commented in an analysis on Monday that Mongolia's decision not to fulfill its obligations to the ICC was “the clearest proof of the West's powerlessness in the face of the Kremlin's realpolitik.”

“This will please Putin, who has total disdain for rules-based politics. Russia's approach is to win by any means necessary, regardless of the consequences. The West and the institutions it helped build lack the same level of single-mindedness and determination,” she added.

CNBC has contacted both the Kremlin and the Mongolian government for further comment.

A spokesman for the Mongolian government told the news site Politico on Tuesday that the country's energy dependence on Russia puts the country in a difficult position with regard to its relationship with Moscow.

“Mongolia imports 95 percent of its petroleum products and over 20 percent of its electricity from our immediate neighborhood, where there have been repeated interruptions for technical reasons in the past. This supply is crucial to securing our existence and that of our people,” the spokesman said.