Ukraine and Ukrainians are a country and people who, since 2022, have been living in a black and white world. Some have been living this way since 2014, but for the majority, it’s since 2022. For us, there is no gray, no middle ground, but there is for other countries, for whom the pain of Ukrainians is not as close as it is for us.
The war criminal, who is internationally wanted by the ICC, Vladimir Putin, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians and millions of shattered Ukrainian lives (more than the population of Mongolia), arrived in Mongolia. Before that, he visited Azerbaijan. But unlike Mongolia, Azerbaijan had no obligation to arrest Putin, whereas in Ulaanbaatar, he should have been handcuffed. But…
But let’s start with the white.
Upon arrival in Ulaanbaatar, Putin is handcuffed. He is arrested. What happens next?
Mongolia borders Russia to the north and China to the south. The question arises, how will the war criminal Vladimir Putin be extradited from Mongolia to court? Through Russian airspace or Chinese airspace, which clearly is not interested in such a development?
The war criminal Vladimir Putin remains on Mongolian territory, and Russia begins a military campaign against the "Mongolian Nazis," with all the predictable historical narratives about this being an age-old confrontation, the Mongols being eternal enemies of the "Great Russians," and that in Mongolia, the Russian-speaking population is oppressed!
Mongolia is a very large country with a rather ineffective army. If we compare the phase of active hostilities in Ukraine with the potential of the Mongolian army, it would last about a week of active fighting. And then—urban battles in Ulaanbaatar.
So, the question is, what did you actually expect from Mongolia? And the answer lies more in the "black" category.
Black.
Yes, Mongolia’s situation is quite complicated—arrest Putin, and then what? How, even practically, do you get him out of the country and hand him over to The Hague?
But, Putin was met in Ulaanbaatar by an honor guard, an official ceremony was held, a red carpet was laid out, and an official meeting took place with the President of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, who, I remind you, had officially invited Putin to the country back in 2023 during a meeting in Beijing.
Some time later, comments from unnamed Mongolian diplomats began appearing in the Western press, as always unnamed, explaining that the arrest was impossible because Mongolia is an energy-dependent country. And, to be honest, that’s true—Mongolia is totally dependent on Russia for energy resources. But that’s the dumbest explanation Western journalists could come up with, inventing some Mongolian diplomat who told them all this. The gullible readers of dumb outlets like Politico will swallow it, but the real essence was described above. But…
But why invite to your country and officially welcome someone whose visit will create a wave of outrage and distrust? To then make excuses? Wasn’t the meeting in Beijing enough, or could Khurelsukh not have flown to Moscow himself instead of creating such a precedent? No, he couldn’t, because for the sake of momentary gain, he is ready to lick the boots of a war criminal, just as was done during World War II with Hitler.
Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh bowed down to a war criminal who will go down in world history as a murderer and a maniac. Not a bad bit of company in the September 2024 timeline for the president of a large country, which was mostly known for the conquests of Temujin, and now remembered for Khurelsukh's phenomenal acrobatic bow.
For the whole world, there are various shades of black and white, but for us, there is only black and white. And we have every right to this, unlike everyone else. If someone wants to argue, they can rent an apartment in Northern Saltivka, in Kharkiv, and live there for six months.
In the case of Mongolia, what do you choose? Black or white?
