The Armenian parliament ratified the Rome statute requiring Putin's arrest

The Armenian parliament voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

According to Armenpress, 60 deputies voted yes, 22 deputies voted no to ratify the document. Now it must be signed by the president.

The Armenian opposition boycotted the vote: in particular, atsrvik Minasyan, Secretary of the Armenian bloc, said that the ratification project was allegedly contrary to the Constitution of Armenia. At the same time, the Constitutional Court of the country emphasized the absolute opposite.

Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1998, but the ratification process was suspended in 2004 after the document was deemed to be contrary to the Armenian Constitution. In late 2022, the Armenian government restored the process.

Russia actively opposed the ratification of the Roman statute in Armenia — such a decision of Yerevan was called unacceptable at a time when the CJSC issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova. 

In turn, the Armenian government justified the fact that the ratification of the charter was necessary due to security issues:

"War crimes have been and are being committed against our country. We, our country, need this (ratification),” said Speaker of Parliament Alyon Simonyan at the beginning of September.

The statute of Rome is a treaty that establishes the International Criminal Court. It was signed by 137 states, ratified by more than 120.

The CJSC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova in March 2023. They are suspected of smuggling Ukrainian children out of occupied territories illegally.