The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday dismissed Mongolia’s request to appeal a ruling that found the country in violation of its obligations for failing to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit.

Putin traveled to Mongolia in early September despite the ICC issuing an arrest warrant against him in 2023 for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The Chamber rejects Mongolia’s request for leave to appeal,” ICC pre-trial judges stated in their decision. In October, the ICC determined that Mongolia, as a member state, failed to uphold its duty to arrest Putin and referred the matter to the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the court’s governing body, for further consideration.

Under the Rome Statute, ICC member states are obligated to arrest individuals wanted by the court. Mongolia sought to challenge the ruling, requesting the disqualification of two judges involved and a postponement of the appeal decision until the disqualification issue was addressed.

On November 29, the court denied all of Mongolia’s requests, stating that its findings and referral to the ASP were not appealable as they did not constitute formal rulings on the merits or procedural aspects of a case. The judges clarified that the decision was solely an assessment of Mongolia’s compliance with its duty to cooperate under the Rome Statute.

The arrest warrant for Putin, issued in March 2023, accuses him of war crimes for allegedly orchestrating the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Kyiv has claimed that thousands of children were forcibly removed from orphanages and other institutions in occupied territories during Russia’s 2022 invasion. Moscow, however, insists that the children were relocated for their safety from conflict zones.

Despite Russia dismissing the ICC warrant as irrelevant, Putin’s trip to Mongolia marked his first visit to an ICC member state since the warrant’s issuance.

Last year, Putin canceled plans to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa—another ICC member state—amid calls for Pretoria to arrest him if he entered the country.