ArmInfo. Armenia's membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the sovereign right of this country. According to Russian media sources, this was stated during a briefing by Russian President spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
"But it is important for us that such decisions do not negatively affect our bilateral relations, which we value and which we hope to further develop," Peskov said.
On February 1, Armenia officially joined the International Criminal Court. Armenia became the 124th state party to the ICC, as well as the 19th state from Eastern European countries.
At its meeting on October 3, 2023, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. After the document was ratified by parliament, it was signed by the president of the country and came into force 60 days after the completion of internal state procedures. According to Armenia's representative on international legal matters, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the ICC mainly considers crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. The Court may exercise its functions and powers, as provided in this Statute, in the territory of any State Party and, by special agreement, in the territory of any other State.
Kirakosyan noted that ratification of this document will make it possible to initiate proceedings at the ICC against Azerbaijan for war crimes committed in Artsakh, where the forced deportation of the population actually took place, as well as for aggression against Armenia. Without this document, Armenia had practically no mechanisms to hold Baku accountable. On March 17 of this year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Armenian side notes that the ratification of the document is not directed against Russia. Later, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the Russian side warned their Armenian partners about the extremely negative consequences of possible accession to the Rome Statute for relations with Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry also added that Moscow considers Yerevan's plans to join the Rome Statute of the ICC unacceptable against the backdrop of warrants against the leadership of the Russian Federation.