Armenia's ratification of Rome Statute to negatively affect relations with Russia — MFA

Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will lead to very negative consequences for bilateral relations, as Yerevan is not taking Moscow's proposals on the Statute into account, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS.

"Our Armenian partners were informed about the unacceptability of Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC in the context of this structure issuing 'arrest warrants' for Russia's leadership. Yerevan's initiative to conclude a bilateral agreement was considered, with Moscow proposing a compromise solution that could suit both sides. Unfortunately, it was not taken into consideration, and instead Armenia made a political decision to ratify the Rome Statute. This will have most negative consequences for bilateral relations," the ministry said.

According to the Russian diplomat, the assertion made by Armenian representatives that joining the ICC will allegedly have no impact on Russian-Armenian relations "is out of touch with reality." "At the very least, it is difficult to imagine Russia’s leadership visiting the country, especially when the deputies of the ruling party are calling for the arrest of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin at the request of the Hague 'justice.'" Moscow expects that reason will prevail and the Armenian National Assembly will not 'stamp' a decision that is known to be poisonous for Armenian-Russian relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry summed up.

On Wednesday, the parliamentary Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs approved a draft law on ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC and sent it to the parliament. Yerevan said that the move was not directed against Russia, but aimed at prosecuting Azerbaijanis who committed war crimes.