On September 28, the Commission on State and Legal Affairs of the Armenian Parliament adopted a positive opinion on the draft law on ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and included it in the agenda of the upcoming plenary session of the National Assembly of the Republic. The draft on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC, signed by Armenia on July 17, 1998, and the adoption of a declaration on the retroactive recognition of the jurisdiction of this international court, located in The Hague, was unanimously approved by the members of the commission.

Vladimir Vardanyan, the head of the Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs, said during the discussion of the bill on the ratification by the Republic of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that Armenia has done a lot of work so that the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) would not affect the relations with Russia.

According to him, there was an attempt to present the ratification of the document in the context of the deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations, which was absolutely manipulative in nature. "It [the ratification of the Rome Statute] in no way affects the level of relations between Armenia and Russia. Taking into account the fact that we have done a lot of work so that nothing would threaten the bilateral allied relations after the ratification of the document," Vardanyan assured.

The head of the Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs also touched upon the issue of possible arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin in case of his visit to Armenia. "Article 98, paragraph 2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court allows to avoid such a development. This norm reads: 'The Court shall not make a request for surrender which would require the requested State to act inconsistently with its obligations under international agreements under which the consent of the sending State is required for the surrender of a person to the Court, unless the Court first obtains the cooperation of the sending State in obtaining consent to the surrender,'" he said.

Vardanyan also urged that ratification of the Rome Statute should not be seen as a move against any country. "It is directed against the international criminals who unleashed aggression against Armenia and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. And these people must bear responsibility. What kind of responsibility - let the court decide," the Armenian MP said.

At a briefing in Yerevan on September 28, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the republic's representative on international legal issues, said that Armenia had proposed to Russia to sign a bilateral agreement on the legal settlement of the issue of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"We proposed to the Russian Federation to conclude a bilateral agreement so that in case Armenia ratifies the Rome Statute, Russia's fears would be allayed. The text was submitted several months ago, in April. We are waiting for the reaction of our colleagues," the Armenian lawyer noted.

As for the possibility of arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin in case of his visit to Armenia, Kirakosyan believes that it is out of the question and talks on this issue are unreasonable. "First of all, the incumbent heads of state have immunity. Secondly, the decisions based on Article 98 of the Rome Statute have been proposed to our Russian colleagues," he explained.

Response from Russia

Commenting on the process of ratification of the Rome Statute launched in the Armenian parliament on the same day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow does not welcome Yerevan's intention to join the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

"Armenia knows very well that we are not a party [to the Rome Statute], and Armenia knows very well that the hard-to-please decision [of the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin] was made on the basis of this statute. We know that this is well known in Yerevan. We do not welcome it," the Kremlin spokesman said.

According to Peskov, such a decision by the Armenian authorities is extremely hostile to Russia. He also said that he was not familiar with the details of Armenia's proposed agreement for a legal decision on the Rome Statute. Peskov added that Putin does not plan to visit Armenia in the near future.