14:55, 1 February 2024
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Russia doesn't want Armenia’s accession to the ICC to negatively impact the bilateral ties, the Kremlin has said.
“That’s overall Armenia’s sovereign right,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti after Armenia officially joined the ICC on February 1. “But on the other hand, for us it is important that such decisions don’t negatively impact, both de jure and de facto, our bilateral relations, which we value and hope to further develop.”
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) officially entered into force for Armenia on February 1.
The Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute in October 2023.
Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute caused concerns in Moscow.
On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, after an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine. The ICC arrest warrant for Putin accuses the Russian leader of unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children, a war crime. This has been denied by the Russian government. Countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute would have to enforce the arrest warrant once Putin travels into their territory. Earlier the Russian Foreign Ministry described it as an ‘unfriendly step’ and asked for explanations.
Armenian government officials have numerously said that ratifying the Rome Statute has nothing to do with Russia and is aimed at holding Azerbaijan to account for its aggression against Armenia.
