Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Russia Seeks Clarification From Armenia On International Court
Netehrlands -- The building of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The
Hague, November 23, 2015
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it has requested
“clarifications” over the Armenian government’s decision to send the founding
treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the country’s parliament for
ratification.
“We will decide on our next steps based on the content of Yerevan's response,”
the ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told reporters.
Moscow has repeatedly issued stern warnings to Yerevan since Armenia’s
Constitutional Court gave the green light for the ratification in March one week
after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over
war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine. It has said that the
recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction would have “extremely negative”
consequences for Russian-Armenian relations.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government has clearly ignored the warnings. It
said on September 1 that it has formally asked the National Assembly to ratify
the ICC treaty also known as the Rome Statute.
It is still not clear whether the draft decision submitted by the government to
Armenian lawmakers calls for an unconditional ratification or contains
exemptions for Russian officials. Independent legal experts believe that the
ratification would require the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and
extradite him to the ICC if he visits the South Caucasus country.
A senior Armenian official said in July that Armenian and Russian diplomats are
holding “active discussions” on the issue and should find a “legal solution”
acceptable to both sides. The clarification sought by Moscow suggests that no
such agreement has been reached.
Pashinian’s administration is planning to submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction amid
mounting tensions with Moscow. It announced the dispatch of the ratification
document to the parliament two days after Zakharova blamed Azerbaijan’s blockade
of the Lachin corridor on Pashinian’s recent decision to recognize Karabakh as
part of Azerbaijan. Yerevan rejected the claim, citing a long list of Armenian
grievances against Moscow.
Armenia Sends First Humanitarian Aid To Ukraine
• Artak Khulian
UKRAINE - An explosion is seen in the sky over Kyiv during a Russian missile
strike, August 30, 2023.
Armenia is providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine for the first time since
the Russian invasion of the country, sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on
Tuesday.
The sources that did not want to be identified said Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s wife, Anna Hakobian, will personally hand over the aid to the
Ukrainian side when she flies to Kyiv to attend the annual Summit of First
Ladies and Gentlemen that will be held there on Wednesday.
The information was not immediately confirmed by Pashinian’s office or the
Armenian Foreign Ministry. The volume and other details of the reported aid
allocated by Yerevan were also not known.
The Kyiv summit has been held since 2021 at the initiative of Ukraine’s first
lady, Olena Zelenska. A partial list of its participants released by the
organizers on Tuesday morning did not include Pashinian’s wife.
Her reported trip to Ukraine will come amid Armenia’s deepening rift with
Russia, its traditional ally increasingly criticized by Pashinian and other
Armenian leaders for what they see as a lack of Russian support in the conflict
with Azerbaijan.
Armenia has so far been careful not to openly condemn Russia’s military campaign
in Ukraine launched in February 2022. Even so, Pashinian stated in May this year
that his country is “not Russia’s ally in the war with Ukraine.” Moscow said it
“took note” of the statement.
Ukraine’s current and former governments have repeatedly voiced support for
Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russia Staying Put In Armenia, Insists Kremlin
• Artak Khulian
Russia - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends the Russia-Armenia talks on the
sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union Forum in Moscow, May 25, 2023.
Russia continued to round on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday, with
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisting that Moscow will remain a key player
in the South Caucasus and Armenia in particular.
“Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region, so it cannot go anywhere.
Russia cannot leave Armenia,” Peskov said, adding that it will continue to play
the role of a regional “security guarantor.”
“There are more Armenians living in Russia than in Armenia itself, and most of
them are exemplary, patriotic citizens of the Russian Federation who make a
significant contribution to the development of our country,” he told reporters.
Peskov went on to also emphasize Armenia’s close economic ties with Russia which
were instrumental in double-digit economic growth recorded in the South Caucasus
last year.
President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary responded to Pashinian’s claims that
Russia is “unwilling or unable” to defend Armenia despite bilateral treaties and
may “leave” the South Caucasus in the near future. In a newspaper interview
publicized over the weekend, Pashinian also said that Armenia’s long-standing
heavy reliance on Russia for security has proved a “strategic mistake.”
An unnamed Russian diplomatic source quoted by the official TASS news agency
denounced his comments on Tuesday. He also warned Yerevan against helping the
West “squeeze Russia out” of the region.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, was more scathing
about the Armenian leader’s latest jibes at Moscow.
“One should have the ability to answer for their own actions, rather than blame
others and do so endlessly, on every occasion,” Zakharova told a news briefing
in Moscow on Tuesday.
“You need to take your own responsibility and not shift that responsibility onto
someone else,” she said. “This is what makes a politician, a statesman different
from a passing person who does not think about the interests of his country.”
Tensions between two allied countries have steadily increased over the past
year, with Armenian leaders increasingly complaining about what they see as a
lack of Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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