Armenia votes to join ICC, straining Russia ties
YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenia’s parliament voted Tuesday to join the International Criminal Court, a move that further strains the country’s ties with its old ally Russia after the court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over events in Ukraine.
Moscow last month called Yerevan’s effort to join the the ICC an “unfriendly step,” and the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia’s ambassador. Countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute that created the ICC are bound to arrest Putin, who was indicted for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine, if he sets foot on their soil. Armenia later sought to assure Russia that Putin would not be arrested if he entered the country.
Still, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Tuesday’s decision “incorrect,” saying it will raise “additional questions” in Moscow, even though Armenia is “our ally, a friendly state, our partner, and a lot unites us with the brotherly Armenian people.”
Asked if Putin would have to refrain from traveling to Armenia, he added: “Of course, we wouldn’t want the president to have to ever, for whatever reason, refuse a visit to Armenia.”
A diplomatic solution is needed and will be discussed with Yerevan, he said.
Armenian officials have argued the move has nothing to do with Russia and was prompted by what they call Azerbaijan’s aggression against the country.
Lawmakers voted to ratify the Rome Statute 60-22. The decision after that is to be submitted to Armenia’s president, who must prepare a ratification document, which is then deposited with the U.N. secretary-general.
Armenia’s relations with Russia have frayed significantly in recent years. In 2020, Moscow brokered a deal that ended a six-week war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It mandated that Yerevan cede to Baku large swaths of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population.
Russia then sent some 2,000 peacekeepers to the tumultuous region, and Armenia has accused the troops of failing to prevent recent hostilities by Azerbaijan that led to Baku taking full control of the region.
The Kremlin, in turn, has accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of precipitating the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh by acknowledging Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the region.
Moscow also blames Yerevan for damaging ties with Russia by embracing the West, including hosting U.S. troops for joint military drills.
It remains unclear whether Pashinyan might take Armenia out of the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization, a group of several former Soviet nations, and other Russia-led alliances. Armenia also hosts a Russian military base, and Russian border guards help patrol Armenia’s frontier with Turkey.
Armenia started the process of joining the ICC more than 20 years ago, but in 2004 its Constitutional Court ruled that the Rome Statute contradicted the country’s constitution at the time, putting the process on pause. The constitution has been amended twice since then.