Peskov called Armenia’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute hostile

The Kremlin considers Armenia’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) “extremely hostile” towards Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“Of course, this is not something we welcome. But Armenia is a sovereign state, and we, of course, hope that such decisions will not negatively affect our bilateral relations, because here we are talking about a statute that we do not recognize, we are not parties to it. But these decisions are extremely hostile for us,” Peskov said.

Peskov also commented on Armenia’s proposal to conclude a bilateral agreement with Russia under the Rome Statute. The Kremlin representative noted that the Armenian side had arguments explaining the need to adopt the statute. “But in this case, I do not have the details of the proposal to conclude bilateral agreements. If Armenia assumes international obligations, we need to look at what it considers to prevail,” Peskov added.

Against this background, journalists asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning to visit Armenia in the near future. To which Peskov replied that no.

On September 28, Armenian Representative for International Legal Affairs Yeghishe Kirakosyan reportedthat Yerevan invited Moscow to sign a bilateral agreement for a legal solution to the Rome Statute. At the same time, Kirakosyan emphasized that any talk about the arrest of Putin in the event of his visit to the republic is inappropriate, since the leaders of countries have immunity. Today the Commission on State and Legal Affairs of the Parliament of Armenia accepted ratification project.

Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1998, but has not ratified it. In 2004, the Constitutional Court of the republic recognized the obligations of the treaty as contrary to a number of provisions of the 1995 Constitution. In December 2022, the Armenian government appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to retroactively recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC from May 2021 – according to the Armenian authorities, this will allow Azerbaijan to be called upon to “responsible for war crimes.” On March 24, the Armenian Constitutional Court decided that the obligations set out in the Rome Statute are consistent with the country’s fundamental law.

September 13, Prime Minister of the Republic Nikol Pashinyan reportedthat this process is not connected with relations between Yerevan and Moscow, but with tensions on the border with Azerbaijan.