Armenia-Russia ties at stake as Yerevan considers joining ICC

• Armenia and Russia are discussing Armenia’s plan to join the ICC.
• This move comes after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
• The ICC accused Putin of deporting children from Ukraine.

Armenia has reportedly discussed its intention to come under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with Russia, despite strong opposition from Moscow.

This move comes after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, leading to strained relations between the two traditionally allied nations.

The ICC accused Putin of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, a claim dismissed by the Kremlin. The warrant mandates member states of the ICC to detain and transfer Putin if he enters their territory.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large, Edmon Marukyan, stated that Yerevan has communicated its proposals on this matter to Moscow, and discussions are ongoing.

The deterioration of bilateral relations has been exacerbated by Moscow’s perceived failure to fully uphold a 2020 ceasefire treaty it helped mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ending their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated region within Azerbaijan.

Marukyan said Armenia’s plan to become a party to the Rome Statute, bringing it under the international court’s remit, was “not against the Russian Federation but because of war crimes committed on territory of the Republic of Armenia by the Azerbaijani side”, TASS reported.

“Our Russian partners are well aware of this.”

Azerbaijan has been accused by Yerevan several times in recent weeks of concentrating its forces around Karabakh, which Baku has effectively blockaded since December 2022, leading to severe starvation.

A deal reached last weekend to open up the territory’s highways has not yet fully taken effect.

However, according to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Yerevan is making every effort to reach a peace agreement with Baku before the end of the year and that is doable.

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