Armenia ratified the Rome Statute, which provides for Putin's arrest in case of his arrival

The Armenian Parliament has ratified the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Among other things, it provides for the arrest of suspects under warrants issued by this court. One of these suspects is Russian dictator and war criminal Vladimir Putin.

The ratification was supported by 58 MPs from the ruling Civic Contract party, while 25 opposition MPs did not participate in the vote.

The Armenian authorities have repeatedly emphasized that they decided to ratify the treaty after the armed conflict with Azerbaijan in September 2022.

"We are creating additional guarantees for Armenia in the face of the threat to the country's territorial integrity from the sworn enemy of Azerbaijan," said Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's representative for international legal affairs, in parliament.

At the same time, the approval of the Rome Statute also means that, theoretically, Putin and Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova could be detained during their visit to Armenia in connection with the arrest warrant issued by the ICC.

The Armenian authorities "have no intention or desire" to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin under the ICC warrant, despite the ratification of the Rome Statute, said earlier Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hakob Arshakyan.

Despite this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has previously called the Armenian authorities' desire to join the statute "extremely hostile" to Russia.

Background. Meanwhile, experts have explained in whose interests the destruction of the Armenian enclave is taking place – see Mind's article "Why Another Conflict Has Broken Out in Nagorno-Karabakh and Who Benefits."