Armenia's President Vahagn Khachaturyan has signed the ratification of the Rome Statute, recognising the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite Russian warnings, a statement said Saturday. 

Khachaturyan's office published the statement saying he signed the treaty "retroactively recognising the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court by the Republic of Armenia." 

Armenian lawmakers voted in favour of the joining the ICC earlier this month. 

The move has angered Moscow, as The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. 

ICC members are expected to make the arrest should Putin set foot on their territory. 

Khachaturyan signed the ratification after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan skipped a summit attended by Putin in Kyrgyzstan this week. 

Armenia says joining the ICC would allow it to investigate what it calls war crimes by Azerbaijan after Baku's offensive to retake Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Relations between Moscow and Yerevan have soured since Baku's military operation, during which Russian peacekeepers did not intervene.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231014-armenian-president-signs-ratification-of-icc-membership-despite-moscow-s-ire