Russian Federal Council urges Yerevan not to risk Rome Statute issue

The Armenian parliament should study the consequences of the country's accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and assess the risks for allied relations with the Russian Federation., Russia’s Federal Assembly Deputy Chairman Yury Vorobyev said.

He made the remarks at the session of the Interparliamentary Committee on Cooperation of Russia’s Federal Assembly and the National Assembly of Armenia, TASS reports.

Earlier, it was reported that the Armenian government intends to send the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to the parliament for ratification.

"As we understand it, this means that Armenia recognises the jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal with regard to all the cases that the latter is handling. We proceed from the fact that this step of our Armenian colleagues has no anti-Russian context, but nevertheless, in practice, it brings tangible harm to Russian-Armenian relations. We urge our allies to scrutinize the consequences of joining the Rome Statute again and assess the possible risks for allied relations with Russia. I appeal to parliamentarians in this case," Vorobyov said.

He says a dialogue between the Russian and Armenian foreign ministries is underway.

At the end of 2022, the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers started the process of ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC.

On March 24, 2023, the Constitutional Court recognised the Rome Statute as compliant with the country's Basic Law. And on March 27, TASS sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow took an extremely negative view of official Yerevan's plans to join the Rome Statute and that Yerevan was warned of undesirable consequences.