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Armenia has signed up to the International Criminal Court, a move condemned by its traditional ally Russia as it would allow the arrest of Vladimir Putin.
By ratifying the Rome Statute on Tuesday, Armenia has recognised the jurisdiction of The Hague-based war crimes tribunal, which six months ago issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president. Putin was charged over the deportation of children during his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The decision comes as relations between Yerevan and Moscow hit a fresh nadir in recent weeks after Azerbaijan attacked and annexed the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh despite Russia’s presence in the region.
Yerevan had previously offered a bilateral deal to ensure that Putin, who last visited Armenia in November, would be safe from arrest should he return. But Russian officials have criticised Armenia’s decision to press on with joining the court, describing it as an “unfriendly” step.
“We doubt and have doubted from the very beginning that Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC is correct from the point of view of bilateral relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. “We still believe that it is an incorrect decision.”
“We would not like it to be the case that someday, for some reason, the president would have to refrain from travelling to Armenia,” Peskov added. “Armenia is our ally . . . A lot unites us with our brotherly Armenian people.” He said a diplomatic discussion about the consequences of the decision would be conducted.
Relations between Yerevan and Moscow have plunged in particular after Azerbaijan’s 24-hour offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, which prompted an exodus. More than 100,000 Armenians have fled Karabakh in the past 10 days, leaving the region almost empty. On Tuesday, local television reported that Azerbaijani law enforcement had made several more high-profile arrests of leaders of the breakaway enclave, including three former presidents.
Many Armenians are blaming the historic territorial loss on Russia, which had stationed 2,000 peacekeepers in the enclave but failed to prevent the annexation.
Azerbaijan retook the territory in just 24 hours of fighting, prompting Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan to acknowledge that his country’s security arrangements — which include participation in a Russian-led military bloc — were “ineffective”.
The “instruments of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership” were “not enough to ensure Armenia’s external security”, Pashinyan said. Institutions such as the ICC, he said, could bolster Armenia’s standing and security, marking a rethink of Yerevan’s international ties.
Prior to the annexation, Armenian officials had pointed to the failure of the Russian peacekeepers to prevent a 10-month blockade by Azerbaijan. They also highlighted an important weapons contract that Russia had failed to fulfil.
Moscow accused Pashinyan of “unacceptable insinuations” and “an attempt to shift responsibility for failures” over the loss of Karabakh.