Russia urges Armenia to clarify ratification of Rome Statute of International Criminal Court

Spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has stated that the Russian side urged Armenia to clarify the decision of the Armenian government to send the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court for ratification to the parliament.

“We have already asked the Armenian side to clarify this issue and we will determine our further steps based on the content of Yerevan’s response,” Zakharova said at a briefing, TASS reports.

The Armenian government sent the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to the parliament for ratification on September 1.

It is unknown when the Armenian parliament plans to consider the issue of ratifying the Rome Statute.

The Pre-trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on March 17 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova as part of the case of the transportation of children from Ukraine.

It is the responsibility of the member states of the Rome Statute to enforce the warrant. Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hakob Arshakyan said on April 2 that Armenia has no intention of arresting Putin in case of his possible visit to the country.

Armenia signed the Treaty of Accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998 but has not ratified it.

The country’s Constitutional Court recognised the obligations of the agreement as contradicting a number of provisions of the Constitution in 2004.