Mexico denies Ukrainian call to detain Putin at inauguration

"We can't do that. It's not up to us," said the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at a press conference.

Lopez Obrador was responding to a statement from the Ukrainian embassy issued on Wednesday. The statement urged the Mexican authorities to detain Putin if he came to the inauguration ceremony of Sheinbaum. The embassy also reminded that Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, and Mexico, as a member of the ICC, could enforce the arrest warrant.

"We hope the Mexican government is aware that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal with an arrest warrant against him," arguing that Putin is suspected of ordering the kidnapping of Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia, the statement read..

The Ukrainian embassy also expressed hope in the statement that the Mexican government would fulfil the international arrest warrant and hand Putin over to the United Nations Tribunal in The Hague.

Russian media extensively covered Putin's invitation to Sheinbaum's inauguration. The president-elect herself, commenting on the matter on Wednesday, noted that such invitations are standardly sent to all countries with which Mexico maintains relations, reported the newspaper "El Debate."

Sheinbaum, who became the first woman in history to win the presidential elections in Mexico in June, is attracting attention from national and international media.