Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his first visit to an International Criminal Court (ICC) member state since the court issued a warrant for his arrest last year, arriving in Mongolia on Tuesday. He was greeted by Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh with a grand ceremony in Ulaanbaatar’s Genghis Khan Square, where soldiers on horseback and martial anthems set the stage.

Putin is wanted by the ICC for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Despite this, the Kremlin has expressed no concern over his arrest during the visit. Small protests took place in the capital, with demonstrators holding signs demanding Putin leave. Security forces prevented protestors from getting close to the Russian leader, and another protest is planned at the Monument for the Politically Repressed.

Ahead of the visit, Ukraine urged Mongolia to arrest Putin in compliance with the ICC’s arrest warrant, which accuses him of war crimes related to the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the invasion on 24 February 2022. The ICC has also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges. Moscow has denied the allegations, calling the warrants “outrageous.”