Putin in Kyrgyzstan for first trip abroad since ICC arrest warrant
It is the Russian leader’s first foreign visit since the International Criminal Court issued its March warrant over the deportation of Ukrainian children, slamming the door to much of the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Kyrgyzstan for his first foreign visit since an international court arrest warrant was issued in March. The ICC ruling requires members of the ICC to make the arrest if he sets foot on their territory, and Putin is expected to travel to China next week. He is also wanted by the court over the deportation of Ukrainian children and North Korean leader Kim to travel abroad for meeting with Russian leader Putin in September. The Rome Statute, a treaty requiring members to adhere to ICC rulings, has been ratified by 123 countries. Putin is planning to meet with the leader of Armenia's arch-foe and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.
ที่ตีพิมพ์ : 2 ปีที่แล้ว โดย Agence France-Presse ใน World General
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Putin in Kyrgyzstan for first trip abroad since international court arrest warrant
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called to strengthen military ties with Kyrgyzstan in a trip to the Central Asian country, his first foreign visit since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March. President Putin is wanted by the court over the deportation of Ukrainian children. Its ruling requires members of the ICC, which does not include Kyrgyzstan, to make the arrest if he sets foot on their territory. Televised footage showed Putin greeting his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov in the capital Bishkek for a summit of the post-Soviet group Commonwealth of Independent States. “I would like to thank the president for the invitation. We have good reasons (to be here), but even without reasons this visit is long overdue,” Putin said in talks with Japarov.
“I expect that military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan … will continue to strengthen and expand,” Putin said. North Korean leader Kim to travel abroad for meeting with Russian leader Putin in September: report North Korean leader Kim to travel abroad for meeting with Russian leader Putin in September: report Kyrgyzstan is part of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Nato-style military alliance of ex-Soviet states led by Russia. Putin has rarely left Russia since launching the Ukraine offensive in February 2022. This year, he has travelled only to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, with his last foreign trips to Belarus and Kyrgyzstan in December, a far cry from the busy international schedule he had earlier in his rule. He is expected to travel to China next week. Moscow has likened the prospect of Putin being arrested abroad to an act of war, calling the warrant “illegal”. In practice, however, it has taken precautions: in August, Russia sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to a Brics summit in ICC member South Africa, instead of Putin. While the full-scale offensive in Ukraine made Putin a persona non grata in the Western world, the ICC ruling virtually closed the door to a large part of the globe for him. The Rome Statute, a treaty requiring members to adhere to ICC rulings, has been ratified by 123 countries. The ruling caused a legal headache for ICC member South Africa, which hosted the Brics summit to which Putin was invited. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov (front right) walk after attending an event in the city of Kant, Kyrgyzstan, on Thursday. Photo: via AP In a last-minute decision, Moscow sent its foreign minister instead of Putin. “Why should I create some problems for our friends during an event?” Putin said this month, commenting on his absence from Johannesburg. “If I come, a political show will start,” he added. Putin is wanted alongside his children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crime of allegedly unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. Moscow rejects the allegations. The visit to Kyrgyzstan comes amid rifts among Russia’s allies. Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan will skip the summit attended by Putin, host country Kyrgyzstan announced two days before the event. Pashinyan had criticised Moscow for not intervening when Azerbaijan launched a successful offensive to take over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region last month. His snub came after Armenian lawmakers moved to join the ICC, angering Moscow and potentially limiting Putin’s travel options further. ‘A few 100 remain’: over 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh refugees arrive in Armenia Putin is planning to meet with the leader of Armenia’s arch-foe, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev. Ahead of Putin’s trip, Kyrgyzstan said it had ratified an agreement for a common air defence system with Russia. Moscow has similar deals with other allied countries including Kazakhstan, Belarus and Tajikistan. But suspicion of Russia in parts of the region has grown since the conflict in Ukraine. None of the Central Asian countries supported Russia in a key UN vote on Ukraine last year.
หัวข้อ: Crime, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russia-Ukraine War