Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for the ratification last March one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow vehemently denies the accusations and claims that The Hague tribunal executes orders issued by Western governments.
The Armenian government pushed the treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, through the National Assembly on October 3, adding to its unprecedented tensions with Moscow. Russian officials said the “unfriendly” move will cause serious damage to Russian-Armenian relations. They dismissed Yerevan’s assurances that the ratification does not commit it to arresting Putin and handing him over to the ICC in the event of his visit to Armenia.
Still, Putin seemed to downplay the development afterwards, saying that he will visit the South Caucasus country again in the future. Accordingly, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, reacted cautiously to the country’s formal accession to the ICC confirmed by Armenian officials.
“This is generally the sovereign right of Armenia,” Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying. “But on the other hand, it is important for us that such decisions do not affect both de jure and de facto our bilateral relations, which we value and hope to further develop.”
The Pashinian government’s stated rationale for accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction is to take more legal action against Azerbaijan and prevent further Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia.
Armenian opposition politicians counter that Azerbaijan is not a party to the Rome Statute and would therefore ignore any pro-Armenian ruling by The Hague court. They say the real purpose of ratifying the treaty is to drive another wedge between Russia and Armenia and score points in the West.
The United States and the European Union swiftly praised Yerevan for ratifying the Rome Statute. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive body, said that the extension of the ICC’s jurisdiction to Armenia applies to Putin.
“The world is getting smaller for the autocrat in the Kremlin,” von der Leyen said in October.