Mexico rejects Ukraine's request to arrest Putin

Mexico has rejected Ukraine's request to arrest Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during his possible visit to the country, reported Reuters with reference to the current president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"We cannot do that. It is not up to us," he said at a government briefing.

Earlier, Ukraine asked Mexico to arrest Putin if he was present at the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected President Claudia Scheinbaum on October 1.

The call for his arrest is grounded in Mexico's membership in the International Criminal Court, which last year issued an arrest warrant for the Russian dictator over allegations of abducting and forcibly transferring Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation.

Scheinbaum's team invited the Russian dictator to attend the inauguration, saying earlier this week that it had sent a "diplomatic notice" to all countries with which Mexico maintains diplomatic relations.

After issuing the arrest warrant, Putin visited only Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, China, North Korea, and Kazakhstan, which have not ratified the Rome Statute.

On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, for complicity in the abduction of children from Ukraine.

On June 3, 2024, the former mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Scheinbaum was elected the new president of Mexico.