Putin Ally Issues Warning over ICC Judges' Lives

Dmitry Medvedev, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, has issued a stark warning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) judges following their call for Mongolia to arrest the Russian President during his visit.

Medvedev, who is one of Putin's closest aides as deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, threatened ICC judges amid calls to arrest the Russian president on an international warrant over alleged war crimes from the invasion of Ukraine.

In response to the ICC arrest warrant, Medvedev said on September 3: "The European Union has expressed 'concern' to Mongolia over the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin."

"If I were the judges and prosecutors of this unfinished "trial," I would be most afraid that one of the madmen will try to execute their illegal warrant. In this case, their life will cost no more than this s***** piece of paper."

The European Commission has called on Mongolia to meet its obligations to the International Criminal Court and arrest President Putin during his visit.

The ICC has also accused the Russian president of being the architect behind the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Putin is visiting Mongolia for bilateral talks on a new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China.

Victoria Vdovychenko, joint leader of the Ukraine Programme at the University of Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics told Newsweek the visit is a "carefully orchestrated provocation."

"Putin's visit to Mongolia was a carefully orchestrated provocation intended to "demonstrate to the world that he is not afraid of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

"Mongolia's actions represent not only a blow to the reputation of the International Criminal Court but also a strike against international law as a whole."

Before the visit, Putin said in an interview with the Mongolian newspaper Unuudur that both countries would discuss "promising economic and industrial projects."

This includes the construction of the Trans-Mongolian gas pipeline linking China and Russia, he said.

Mongolia is heavily dependent on Russia for fuel and some of its electricity.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi said on Monday that Mongolia's failure to arrest Putin dealt a "heavy blow" to the international criminal law system.

"Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for the war crimes," he said in a post on Telegram.

The visit is Putin's first trip to an ICC member country since it issued an arrest warrant last year.

Preceding the visit, Ukraine called on Mongolia to hand Putin over to the court in The Hague.

Members of the ICC are expected to detain suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued.

"Mongolia, like all other countries, has the right to develop its international ties according to its own interests; however, Mongolia is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC since 2002 with the legal obligations that it entails. We have raised our concern about the visit and stated our position of the ICC clearly via our delegation in Mongolia," Commission spokesperson Nabila Massrali said Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last Friday that the Kremlin had "no worries" about the trip, claiming that Moscow had "a wonderful dialogue with our friends from Mongolia."

Putin's right hand Medvedev once described Ukraine as part of Russia and said what he called historical parts of Russia needed to "come home."

Medvedev has a history of making threats to Ukraine's Western allies and has repeatedly dangled nuclear threats.

"Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer," he said.

Medvedev claimed the United Kingdom's support for Ukraine amounted to an "undeclared war" against Russia.

Medvedev said: "The goofy officials of the UK, our eternal enemy, should remember that within the framework of the universally accepted international law which regulates modern warfare, including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols, their state can also be qualified as being at war.

"Today, the UK acts as Ukraine's ally, providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto, is leading an undeclared war against Russia," he said.

"That being the case, any of its public officials (either military or civil, who facilitate the war) can be considered as a legitimate military target."

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