Kremlin Responds to Pashinyan's Statements on Possible Arrest of Putin

The Kremlin has announced that they expect and are prepared to receive certain assurances from Yerevan regarding the execution of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) orders concerning the possible arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In response to journalists' inquiries about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that it is not for him to decide on the possible arrest of the Russian president under ICC sanctions, the state leader's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said, “Of course, it is very important to receive certain assurances from our Armenian colleagues. This issue still needs to be resolved within the framework of bilateral dialogue, to which we are inclined.”

To a clarifying question about how the situation will develop concerning Armenia's joining the Rome Statute and the recognition of ICC jurisdiction, and whether the Russian president could visit Armenia afterward, the Kremlin representative replied, “We have already said that, certainly, the new reality associated with Armenia’s accession to this international statute cannot have a negative impact on our bilateral relations.”

Just the day before, Pashinyan stated that in his country, only judicial bodies can make decisions of a legal nature, emphasizing that it is not the prime minister who decides whom to arrest and whom not.