Armenia evaluates the impact of joining the Rome Statute on relations with Moscow

Armenia and Russia may sign an agreement under which the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the republic intends to ratify, will not affect relations between the two countries, declared Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hakob Arshakyan in an interview with Armenpress.

On March 24, the Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled that the obligations set out in the Rome Statute of the ICC are in line with the country’s fundamental law. The Russian Foreign Ministry considered “absolutely unacceptable” Yerevan’s plans to join the Rome Statute against the backdrop of the issuance of an arrest warrant by the ICC on March 17 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation.

Arshakyan explained that the ratification of the Rome Statute would give Armenia the opportunity to raise the issue of responsibility for the “gravest crimes” committed by the Azerbaijani military to the ICC. He stressed that the Constitutional Court of the Republic published its decision after a discussion that lasted three months.

According to the deputy speaker of the parliament, Armenia has signed an agreement with one of the countries, according to which the Rome Statute will not affect bilateral relations. “Such a settlement can be with Russia,” he stressed.

Arshakyan added that the republic “heard the fears” expressed by the Russian Federation.

“And I think that we will be able to ensure that the provision of a further process related to the Rome Statute does not damage the strategic relations between Armenia and Russia,” he said.

Russia counts on the settlement in an allied manner of the situation with the possible accession of Armenia to the Rome Statute of the ICC, said on March 30 the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova at a briefing.

Armenia signed the Rome Statute of the ICC in 1998 but has not ratified it. In 2004, the Constitutional Court of the Republic recognized the obligations of the treaty as contradicting a number of provisions of the 1995 constitution (subsequently changed in 2005 and 2015). The Armenian government applied to the Constitutional Court of the country to retroactively recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC from May 2021 back in December 2022 ., Arminfo noted. This, Yerevan believes, will make it possible to call Azerbaijan to “responsibility for war crimes.”