Mexico has just rejected Ukraine’s request to arrest Vladimir Putin if he visits the North American country later this year.
The Russian president may defy the international arrest warrant out against him and attend the inauguration of Mexico’s next president in October.
Kyiv asked Mexico to arrest him if he did turn up when president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum is sworn in.
It comes after Sheinbaum’s team invited Putin to the ceremony, along with all countries it has a diplomatic relationship with.
After all, Putin appears to be on positive terms with the incoming president.
When Sheinbaum was elected in June, he called her to congratulate her and said the country was a “historically friendly partner of Russia in Latin America”.
Outgoing Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the country would not arrest Putin if he did visit, adding: “We can’t do that. It’s not up to us.”
The remark comes after Ukraine’s Mexican embassy wrote to the central government on August 7.
“We hope the Mexican government is aware that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal with an arrest warrant against him,” the embassy said in a statement.
It pointed to the UN’s International Criminal Court has accused Putin of war crimes and of personal responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine.
The warrant was issued last year, months after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
But the effectiveness of the ICC ruling relies on international cooperation.
While Russia is not a signatory of the ICC, Mexico is.
If Mexico chooses not to follow the ICC ruling, then Putin may be empowered to travel further afield in the future.
That would mean the Russian president can enjoy more international freedom, despite being accused of war crimes.
Meanwhile, Russia’s war against Ukraine has been rumbling on for more than two years.
According to reports, Putin was furious that Ukrainian forces breached the Russian border earlier this week, calling it a “major provocation”.
Kyiv has not commented on the alleged attack.