Armenia could face “serious consequences” if it submits to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Russia has warned after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a move condemned by Moscow as a meaningless and outrageously partisan decision, the ICC issued an arrest warrant earlier this month against Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes Russian troops committed in Ukraine.
That means that Putin’s global travel plans might be complicated if a country he wants to travel to is an official party to the Rome Statute.
Armenia intends to become a state party to the Rome Statute in a step that would bring it under the jurisdiction of the ICC,
However, according to a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow regarded official Yerevan’s ICC plans as “unacceptable”, the state Russian news agency RIA reported.
RIA cited the Russian Foreign Ministry source as saying that Moscow considers Armenian plans to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to be absolutely unacceptable against the background of the recent, as the ministry describes them, illegal and legally null and void ICC warrants against the Russian leadership.
Yerevan plans, however, would need to be ratified by the Armenian parliament following approval by the constitutional court but Russia had warned it of extremely negative consequences for bilateral relations if it goes ahead with the plan.
There was no immediate reaction from the traditional Russian ally Armenia, whose ties with Russia have frayed badly since the invasion of Ukraine Putin ordered under the pretext of the so-called “special military operation”.
Russia has been a traditional power broker in the South Caucasus region and has a mutual defense pact with Armenia but has recently faced increasing competition for influence from Turkey, the EU, and the US.
In recent months, however, Yerevan’s ties with Moscow have additionally deteriorated over the Armenian accusation that Russia is failing to fully uphold a 2020 ceasefire treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan it helped broker to end a war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia has defended the actions of its peacekeepers in the Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan, who have so far not intervened to end Azeri activists-imposed partial blockade of the main transport artery connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
