Armenia has accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court after lawmakers on Tuesday ratified its founding documents, effectively obliging the former Soviet republic to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he ever returns to the country.
Parliamentarians voted in favor of the Rome Statute on Tuesday, with 60 MPs backing its ratification and 20 opposition lawmakers voting against. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said last week he was confident there was sufficient support for the move, despite fierce objections from Moscow, traditionally an ally of Yerevan.
Last Thursday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that accepting the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague would be seen as “extremely hostile,” given it has issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war crimes charges over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
“Armenia knows very well that we are not parties to the [Rome Statute], and Armenia is well aware of the difficult decision adopted on the basis of this statute,” Peskov said.
Pashinyan has insisted the decision is not aimed at Russia, but is necessary to ensure the country is protected by international law in its bitter dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan.
In March, the court published warrants for both Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of involvement in the abduction and forced deportation of children from Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion last year. Ukraine is not a signatory to the Rome Statute but has granted the court jurisdiction to investigate war crimes committed during the war.
Despite Russia’s outright rejection of the warrants, they have caused problems for Putin’s travel plans. In July, the Russian president was forced to pull out of a summit with the leaders of developing economies in South Africa, which has itself ratified the Rome Statute.