Armenia formally joins international criminal court in snub to Russia
Armenia has formally joined the international criminal court (ICC), officials said, a move which traditional ally Moscow has denounced as unfriendly.
The Hague-based court in March issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine and the illegal deportation of children to Russia.
Yerevan is now obliged to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on its territory.
“ICC Rome statute officially entered into force for Armenia on 1 February,” the country’s official representative for international legal matters, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, told AFP.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Armenia had taken a “wrong decision” when its parliament voted in October to ratify the ICC’s Rome statute, and the Russian foreign ministry has called the move an “unfriendly step”.
We Western nations should align with Armenia instead of Azerbaijan. I think it's sad that a democracy had to align with Russia to survive. Democracies should stick together.
America chose Turkey to be an ally. That's problematic for Armenia especially with the whole "it wasn't a genocide" line that Turkey keeps sticking to.
Yeah our alliance with Turkey is problematic for several reasons. I understand the great geopolitical benefits. Even now it is of great help in Ukraine. I think it's a balancing act. Until they become more democratic, they are merely an ally of convenience, really an enemy at heart.
Hmm why does that sound familiar
Despite the article's framing, Armenia isn't particularly interested in antagonizing Russia, but rather they're looking for whatever protections they may get against further aggression from Azeirbayan.
Nice!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Armenia has formally joined the international criminal court (ICC), officials said, a move which traditional ally Moscow has denounced as unfriendly.
The Hague-based court in March issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine and the illegal deportation of children to Russia.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Armenia had taken a “wrong decision” when its parliament voted in October to ratify the ICC’s Rome statute, and the Russian foreign ministry has called the move an “unfriendly step”.
“The world is getting smaller for the autocrat in the Kremlin,” the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in reference to Putin after Armenia ratified the ICC statute in October.
Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has tried to reassure Russia that his country is only addressing what it says are war crimes committed by its neighbour, Azerbaijan, in their long-running conflict, and is not aiming at Moscow.
“Armenia hoped that by joining the ICC, by making such a sensitive step for Russia, it could receive security guarantees from the west,” independent analyst Vigen Hakobyan told AFP.
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