(Reuters) – Mexico has invited the president of Russia Vladimir Putin to the inauguration of the president-elect on October 1 Claudia Sheinbaumreported the Russian newspaper Izvestia on Wednesday, citing the Mexican Embassy in Russia.
“Russia’s invitation to attend the inauguration of President Sheinbaum was sent to President Putin,” a representative of the Mexican embassy said, according to Izvestia.
“The Russian president will decide whether to attend the ceremony himself or appoint another high-ranking official to do so on his behalf.”
Mexico’s foreign minister later told Reuters that the government had sent diplomatic notes to all nations with which it had relations, as well as international organizations of which it is a member, inviting them to Sheinbaum’s inauguration.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, charging him with the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor in February 2022.
Although Russia is not a member of the ICC, Mexico is. But the two countries have forged close ties, and Putin congratulated Sheinbaum on his win in June, saying Mexico is Russia’s “historically friendly partner in Latin America.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a question about how Mexico’s ICC membership would affect Putin’s possible presence at Sheinbaum’s inauguration.
In September 2023, a Russian military unit took part in a parade to mark Mexico’s independence day, prompting sharp criticism from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that his country was providing a platform to forces invading Ukraine.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese, David Gregorio, Leslie Adler and Michael Perry)