Armenia became a member of the Rome Statute. Now it can arrest Putin on its territory

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

Armenia officially became a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This allows it to arrest Putin if he finds himself on Armenian territory.

This was reported by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Armenia became the 24th state party to the Rome Statute.

The Rome Statute is an international treaty that established the International Criminal Court in 1998. The Court may exercise its functions and powers under the Rome Statute on the territory of any participating state. The courtʼs jurisdiction is limited to the most serious crimes, including the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

Recently, Armenia has been taking many steps to distance itself from Russia. Last September, the ambassador of Armenia in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was strongly protested because of "a series of unfriendly steps." It was about the launch of the ratification procedure of the Rome Statute, the trip to Kyiv by the wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia with humanitarian aid, as well as the holding of military exercises with the USA on the territory of Armenia, which started on September 11. In October, Zelensky met with the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan for the first time on the sidelines of the summit of the European Political Community. And at the end of October, Armenia took part for the first time in the Ukrainian Peace Formula Summit.

  • In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin. He is suspected of illegally deporting children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. Countries that have ratified the Rome Statute are obliged to comply with the order.