Russia warns Armenia not to join International Criminal Court

KORNIDZOR, Armenia — Armenia’s plans to sign up to the International Criminal Court would worsen a growing rift with Moscow, the Kremlin has warned, given the decision would oblige the former Soviet republic to arrest President Vladimir Putin if he were to ever visit the country again.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that in light of the ICC warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes charges, joining the international legal pact would be seen as “extremely hostile” toward Russia.

“Armenia knows very well that we are not parties to the [Rome Statute], and Armenia is well aware of the difficult decision adopted on the basis of this statute,” he cautioned.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has sought closer ties with the West in a bid to end dependence on Moscow in recent months, has said he is confident the country’s parliament will ratify the Rome Statute and acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICC. He has insisted that joining the court is purely in the interests of Armenia’s security, and not directed against Russia.

According to Armenia’s justice minister, Grigor Minasyan, the move is necessary to hold Azerbaijan to account for alleged military aggression and war crimes amid a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders, the unrecognized state’s ethnic Armenian leadership surrendered following a lightning offensive last Wednesday.

More than 68,000 people have since fled the region, bringing with them whatever possessions they could pack into cars, buses and even open-top trucks.

In March, the ICC issued warrants for both Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, in connection with the abduction and forced deportation of children from Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion last year. Kyiv is also not a signatory to the Rome Statute but granted the ICC jurisdiction to investigate war crimes committed during the conflict.

Putin has visited Armenia — formally still an ally of Russia and part of the Moscow-led CSTO military bloc — several times in recent years, despite an increasingly hostile reception from protesters who accuse him of abandoning the country.

In an interview with POLITICO earlier this month, Pashinyan said that “as a result of the events in Ukraine, the capabilities of Russia have changed,” and argued that Armenia would have to bolster its own independence instead of relying on Moscow for security.