Putin and the Mongolian leader, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, are to attend a ceremony on Tuesday marking the 1939 victory of Soviet and Mongolian troops over the Japanese army that had taken control of Manchuria in northeastern China.

But the visit will also focus on the construction of a pipeline that could carry 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year from Russia’s Yamal region to China via Mongolia.

Members of the ICC are bound to arrest suspects if a warrant has been issued against them, but the court has no enforcement mechanism.

Putin is wanted by the ICC for the alleged abduction of hundreds of Ukrainian children.

Ukraine urged Mongolia last week to arrest Putin, and, reacting to its failure to do so, Heorhiy Tykhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said the country had dealt “a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the system of criminal law.”

“Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for the war crimes,” he wrote on Telegram. Ukraine, he added, would work with its allies to ensure Mongolia felt the consequences.

Asked whether there had been discussions with the Mongolian authorities about the ICC warrant, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that “all of the aspects of the visit have been thoroughly discussed.”