Russian President Vladimir Putin remains a wanted man by the International Criminal Court (ICC), yet he faced no arrest threat during his visit in Alaska and ahead of a potential peace summit with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in Europe.

The ICC issued a warrant against Putin in March 2023 for alleged war crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. The Kremlin denies the charge.

So far, this warrant has been largely symbolic.

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The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, has no enforcement arm and relies on member states to arrest suspects.

Currently 125 states have ratified the ICC: 19 in the Asia-Pacific, 28 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 33 in Africa, and 45 in Europe, meaning Putin could, in theory, be arrested in most parts of the world.

Australia, like all other countries having signed the ratification, is obligated to arrest Putin if he enters the country, for example.

However, enforcing such a warrant against a sitting head of state, particularly one from a major nuclear power, would be diplomatically and logistically complicated in practice.

Why was Putin not detained during his recent visit to Alaska?

Putin met with US President Donald Trump in the US state of Alaska last week to discuss a potential peace deal for Ukraine.

But the United States, like Russia, do not recognise the ICC and is under no legal obligation to enforce its decisions.

With Trump acting as host, the scenario provided legal and logistical protection for the Kremlin leader.

Trump has taken on a mediator role, meeting with both sides and several European leaders.

Now talks are underway for a potential summit between Putin and Zelensky, their first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We’ll see if they can get along,” Trump said on Monday.

Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Putin had agreed in principle to a summit.

While Ukrainian and Russian officials have expressed a tentative willingness to engage in direct talks, hopes for a Putin-Zelensky summit have taken a hit after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov poured cold water on any sense of urgency.

A meeting would have to be prepared “gradually, starting with the expert level and going through all the required steps,” Lavrov said on Russian state TV, sticking to the Kremlin’s noncommittal script.

Locations for talks between Putin and Zelensky

Despite the remarks casting further doubt on whether a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders will happen any time soon, the risk of Putin being arrested is significantly reduced if the location of the talks is chosen in a country either not bound by ICC obligations, or willing to make exceptions.

According to Politico, signs point to Budapest, where the Hungarian government under Viktor Orban is reportedly preparing security arrangements.

Hungary, once an ICC member, formally withdrew from the court’s jurisdiction in May 2025, removing any legal requirement to detain Putin.

Austria and Switzerland have also offered to host the summit.

Austria is a member of the European Union and has taken positions against Russian aggression in the past.

Still, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker stated his country would allow Putin to enter for the summit, citing Vienna’s “long tradition” as a venue for international diplomacy.

Vienna is home to more than 40 intergovernmental organisations and known the world over as one of just four major office sites of the United Nations (UN).

Switzerland, meanwhile, maintains its neutrality and would likely extend similar diplomatic protections.

France has also proposed Geneva in Switzerland as a host city, with President Emmanuel Macron stressing the importance of selecting a neutral country.

Also on the cards is Istanbul in Turkey, where the most recent delegations from the two countries took place, a White House official said, as Turkey is not an ICC member.

Whether the summit actually takes place remains uncertain, but if it does, the ICC warrant will not be what stops Vladimir Putin from walking into the room.