ISTANBUL

Ukraine has requested Mexico to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin should he visit Mexico, as media reports surfaced earlier about an invitation to attend his Mexican counterpart’s inauguration later this year.

“We trust that the Mexican government would comply in any case with the international arrest warrant by handing the aforementioned man over to the United Nations judicial body in The Hague,” the Ukrainian Embassy in Mexico said on X on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the Mexican Embassy in Moscow confirmed to the Russian daily Izvestia that Putin has been invited to attend Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s inauguration on Oct. 1, but that he will decide whether he will participate himself or appoint another official to do so on his behalf.

“The Embassy of Ukraine in Mexico recognizes the fact that the Government of Mexico invites representatives of all countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations,” the Ukrainian embassy statement added, conveying Kyiv’s appreciation of the invitation extended to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The statement also recalled that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin last year, accusing him of culpability for the abduction of children from Ukraine.

“This shameful crime will be one of the many reasons why Putin, along with the rest of the Russian military-political leadership, will one day have to face justice for having launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine,” it noted.