Ratification of the Rome Statute by Armenia Has No Relation to Russia: Yeghishe Kirakosyan

The Republic of Armenia signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1999, and the Russian Federation was also among the signatory states, although it later withdrew its signature. This was stated by Armenia's representative on international legal matters, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, during a broadcast on Public TV. He added that Armenia began the process of ratifying the Rome Statute last year during Azerbaijan's September aggression against Armenia, which saw numerous grave incidents of war crimes.

"This became one of the reasons to reconsider the appropriateness of ratifying the Rome Statute, and the discussions ultimately led to the government's decision to approve the bill in late December. After that, it went to the Constitutional Court. Naturally, we had a situation where the decision of the Constitutional Court temporally coincided with the decision regarding the RF president by the ICC," Kirakosyan noted, emphasizing that within this context the issue has become more politicized than necessary.

When asked why Armenia has not been able to reach a consensus with Russia in this case if there are mechanisms both for signing and addressing Russia's concerns, Yeghishe Kirakosyan replied that there are indeed such mechanisms, and the Rome Statute provides for such opportunities if a country has other international commitments.

"A similar proposal was made to Russia back in April, and a draft agreement was submitted that we believe would alleviate the concerns and somewhat soften the stance. With this framework, we want to emphasize that the purpose for which the Rome Statute is being ratified by Armenia is Azerbaijan, and it has nothing to do with Russia," stated the Armenian representative on international legal matters.