The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, and Russia has warned Armenia of “severe repercussions” if it submits to its authority, RIA reported on Monday.
The Kremlin called the ICC warrant worthless and political, accusing Putin of war crimes by illegally deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children.
Armenia, a longstanding Russian ally whose relations with Moscow have deteriorated since Putin ordered a “special military operation” to invade Ukraine, is working toward becoming a state party to the Rome Statute, which would place it under ICC jurisdiction.
RIA, a state Russian news agency, quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry source calling Armenia’s ICC intentions “inappropriate.”
After constitutional court approval, the Armenian parliament would need to ratify the plan, which Moscow has warned Yerevan would have “very serious implications” for bilateral ties.
“Moscow considers official Yerevan’s plans to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to be absolutely unacceptable against the background of the recent illegal and legally null and void warrants of the ICC against the Russian leadership,” the Russian Foreign Ministry source told RIA.
Armenia remained silent.
The ICC warrant might impede his plans if Putin travels to a Rome Statute country.
Putin may visit South Africa and Turkey this year, as he has in the past, including Armenia, where Russia maintains peacekeeping forces and a military facility.
Russia’s refusal to fully implement a 2020 peace accord helped arrange between Armenia and Azerbaijan to end a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated part of Azerbaijan, which has strained relations with Yerevan.
Moscow has backed its forces, who have not stopped Azeri activists from partially blocking Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia has a mutual defense treaty with Armenia and has traditionally dominated the South Caucasus, but the US, EU, and Turkey are gaining influence.
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