On October 3, the Armenian National Assembly ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the 107-seat parliament, 60 MPs voted to approve the founding document of the ICC, and 22 voted against it. There were no abstentions.

The factions of the opposition bloc "Armenia" and "I Have Honor" voted against it.

Russian Officials Respond

Commenting on Yerevan's ratification of the Rome Statute, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin did not want Russian President Vladimir Putin ever to have to cancel a visit to allied Armenia. 

"Of course, we would not like it if someday, for some reason, the president would have to refuse visits to Armenia. Certainly, we have a lot of things that unite us with the brotherly Armenian people. We have no doubt what will unite us forever," Peskov said.

However, Peskov said Armenia's decision to ratify the Rome Statute was reckless. "Of course, there will be additional questions to the current leadership of Armenia, they were given to the Armenian side in advance. From the beginning, we have doubted that from the point of view of bilateral relations, Armenia's accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is correct. We still believe this is an incorrect decision," Putin's spokesman said.

Moreover, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, shared his opinion on the issue.

"Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute is an ill-considered and strategically wrong decision that will primarily create problems for the Transcaucasian republic and its citizens," he added. "Any decision and anything can be explained, but those who made it should first of all answer: 'Why?'," the chairman of the lower house of the Russian parliament wrote.

Volodin emphasized, "The development of relations between our countries is the choice of our peoples: the Russian Federation and Armenia. Ratification of the Rome Statute contradicts this."