Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia this week for a state visit without being arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) — a significant challenge to the court’s authority.

Putin arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, late Monday evening, where he was welcomed by Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs Battsetseg Batmunkh and a military honor guard.

Putin’s visit is officially meant to commemorate the 1939 Soviet-Mongolian victory over Japan in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

Putin will be in Mongolia for four days, meeting with Mongolian leaders. The focus on Putin’s latest trip stems from Mongolia’s membership in the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023 for allegedly orchestrating the abduction of Ukrainian children.

Putin has meticulously avoided visiting countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, making such trips a challenge for the court until now.

Russia – alongside major powers like the U.S., China, India, and Israel – are not signatories to the Rome Statute and thus are not subject to the ICC’s jurisdiction. However, any visit to a Rome Statute signatory should theoretically lead to Putin’s arrest.

The Mongolian government has dismissed any speculation that Putin would face arrest during his visit, despite Mongolia’s legal obligation to act.

“There are no worries, we have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, according to the Moscow Times. He added that “all aspects of the visit were carefully prepared.”

In a statement, Ukraine labeled Putin a war criminal and emphasized that kidnapping children is just “one of the many crimes” Putin has committed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“These individuals are guilty of an aggressive war against Ukraine, atrocities against the Ukrainian people,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a post on Telegram.

“We call on the Mongolian authorities to execute the mandatory international arrest warrant and hand over Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” the ministry added.

Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.