MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Moscow views Yerevan’s move to join the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a patently unfriendly action, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said.
"We view the move to join the Rome Statute by our ally, Armenia, <...> as an utterly unfriendly action. I see no space for conducting a dialogue here," he noted in an interview with RBC.
Russia had expected that Armenia would refrain from ratifying the ICC Rome Statute, the deputy foreign minister stressed. He pointed out that, under the ICC rules, those countries that, for whatever reason, had not signed the Rome Statute were still entitled to initiate legal action through the ICC even without having ratified the document. "I see no possibility for a return to Armenia’s proposal (to conclude a bilateral agreement with Russia - TASS)," Galuzin added.
According to him, the ICC has nothing to do with justice as it is a politicized pro-Western institution that follows orders to prosecute those the West dislikes. "A while ago, the court issued arrest warrants against top Russian officials. I would like to say, parenthetically, that these warrants are of course legally null and void," Galuzin elaborated.
Armenia’s parliament voted to ratify the ICC Rome Statute on October 3, with 60 votes in favor and 20 against. Two opposition factions - "Armenia" and "I Have The Honor" - boycotted the parliamentary debate on the issue and voted against the initiative, saying that the ratification of the document was not in Armenia’s interests but rather was aimed at achieving specific geopolitical goals.