Armenia defied the Kremlin this Tuesday by approving the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC)giving the green light to a possible arrest on its territory of Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Rome Statute was approved by the Armenian National Assembly (Parliament), controlled by the Prime Minister’s Civil Contract party, Nikol Pashinianwhich accuses Russia of inaction in the face of the military threat from Azerbaijan, which regained control over the region two weeks ago Nagorno Karabakh.
Russia pays the price for its inaction in Karabakh The ratification law – the treaty was signed by Armenia in 1998 – was adopted with 60 votes in favor and 22 against, and will enter into force 60 days after its promulgation by Pashinián.
The Armenian side cannot but understand that these types of actions actually mean a ban on the entry of the Russian president into Armenia.
Yerevan launched the process at the end of last year after a new “aggression by Azerbaijan” in September 2022, which coincided with the deterioration of relations with the Kremlin.
“We recorded war crimes, cases of torture and extrajudicial executions during that attack. The CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) did nothing despite its obligations. Russia also did nothing despite its commitments,” Arusiak Dzhulakián, deputy head of the Parliament’s Legislation committee, told Efe.
The official representative clarified that Armenia had no choice but to adopt “preventive measures to guarantee its security.” At the same time, she stressed that the ratification of the statute is not directed against Russia, but against Azerbaijansince it seeks to avoid the repetition of the genocides and crimes against humanity that the Armenian people suffered in the past.
The opposition, which has staged protests against Pashinián in the last two weeks, refused to participate in the debate. “We voted against because the procedure is unconstitutional. Three judges of the Constitutional Court (of nine magistrates) ruled in writing on the matter,” Kristine Vardanián, a representative of the Armenia parliamentary group, told Efe.
In addition, he added that ratification entails “many risks” that were not neutralized during the previous months. “I see serious problems with the constitutionality of the process and how the treaty will adjust to the Magna Carta,” Aram Orbelián, a specialist in international law, told Efe.
Another country that Putin cannot visit
With the ratification, Armenia joins the long list of 123 signatory countries of the Rome Statute to which Putin cannot travelsomething he has not yet done this year, for fear of being arrested under the order issued in March by the ICC.
Putin last traveled to Armenia precisely in November 2022, when Pashinian insulted him by refusing to sign the final declaration of the CSTO summit. In total, the Russian leader has traveled to the Caucasian country eight times since he arrived at the Kremlin in 2000.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov today called the decision “unbecoming” of an ally, since Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. Regarding the bilateral clause that Yerevan proposes to alleviate Moscow’s misgivingsPeskov assured that this is “just an idea on the Armenian side” and that “it is not clear how they could guarantee special conditions, exclusions.”
“We certainly wouldn’t like the president to have to give up visits to Armenia,” he said. However, Russian deputies have already concluded that Putin will not be able to travel to Yerevan.
“The Armenian side cannot but understand that these types of actions actually mean a ban on the entry of the Russian president into Armenia,” said Konstantin Zatulin, deputy head of the Duma or Chamber of Deputies committee for Affairs of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of States. Independents (CEI).
The near abroad rebels Armenia, a country where Russia has a military base, is the last country in the Russian “near abroad”, that is, the post-Soviet space, that decides to rebel against the Kremlin.
“It cannot be ruled out that the antagonism between Armenia and Russia will acquire an institutional aspect over time,” Alexandr Iskandarian, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, told Efe.
One of the consequences of the “current crisis in relations” could be that Armenia leaves the CSTO, considered the post-Soviet military alliance, which coincides with the rapprochement with the West, in the form of military maneuvers with the US and the visit on Tuesday of the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna.
“It also cannot be ruled out that Russia uses economic levers against Armenia, for example, filing complaints against its exports,” he said.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, left a warning for sailors by assuring that this decision is “sovereign”, but that “no provisional government”, alluding to Pashinián, will be able to destroy the long relations between Russians and Armenians.
EFE
#Armenia #ratifies #accession #Criminal #Court #arrest #Putin