Mexican president rejects Ukrainian plea to arrest Putin
President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Thursday rejected an appeal from the Ukrainian embassy to detain Vladimir Putin if he attends the inauguration ceremony of Claudia Sheinbaum, the future president of Mexico. The event is scheduled for October.
Ukrainian embassy calls for Putin's arrest
"We can't do that. It's not up to us," said the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at a press conference.
Lopez Obrador was responding to a statement from the Ukrainian embassy issued on Wednesday. The statement urged the Mexican authorities to detain Putin if he attends Sheinbaum's inauguration ceremony. The embassy also reminded that Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, and Mexico, as a member of the ICC, could enforce the arrest warrant.
"We hope the Mexican government is aware that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal with an arrest warrant against him," arguing that Putin is suspected of ordering the kidnapping of Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia, the statement read.
Expectations of the Mexican authorities
The Ukrainian embassy also hoped that the Mexican government would fulfill the international arrest warrant and hand Putin over to the United Nations Tribunal in The Hague.
Media reactions and Sheinbaum's position
Russian media extensively covered Putin's invitation to Sheinbaum's inauguration. Commenting on the matter on Wednesday, the president-elect noted that such invitations are standardly sent to all countries with which Mexico maintains relations, according to the newspaper "El Debate."
Sheinbaum, who became the first woman in history to win the presidential elections in Mexico in June, is attracting attention not only from national but also international media.
