Armenia's decision to ratify the Rome Statute and join the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not effect its relations with Russia in the best way, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said today, responding to a journalist's request to comment on the possible arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin in case of his visit to Armenia.
According to Zakharova, this forces Yerevan "to make some kind of choice between ICC obligations dictated by the West, on the one hand, and political dialog with Russia and Eurasian integration, on the other."
"Therefore, we expect to receive from our Armenian partners relevant assurances," Zakharova said at apress briefing.
On March 17 last year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gurgen Melkonyan, Armenian MP from the ruling Civil Pact party, said that after the ratification of the Rome Statute, if the Russian president visits Armenia, he will be arrested. Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan called the possibility of Putin's arrest if he comes to the country absurd.
In November last year, Armenian parliamentary deputy speaker Hakob Arshakyan said that several months before the ratification of the Rome Statute, Armenia asked the Russian Federation to sign an interstate agreement bypassing the requirements of the Rome Statute, but received no response.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it suggested that Armenia use the ICC mechanisms without ratifying the Rome Statute. It stated that its "compromise decision was ignored".
