YEREVAN, April 3. /TASS/. Armenia’s swift ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Code (ICC) will be seen as an unfriendly step against Russia, Armenian parliament speaker Alen Siminyan said on Monday.

"There haven’t been any such discussions, but, to my mind, we don’t need to ratify the Rome Statute any time soon. It will be a negative step against Russia and I don’t see the point of that," he said in an interview with the 1in news portal.

He also called the allegations that Armenia would try to detain the Russian president following the ratification of the Statute absurd.

Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled on March 24 that the Rome Statute does not conflict with the country’s constitution. This ruling was met negatively in Russia. The Armenian side said that the ratification of the document is not aimed against Russia but would make it possible for Armenia to raise the issue of holding Azerbaijani troops accountable for their crimes with the International Criminal Court.

Later, a source in the Russian foreign ministry told TASS that the Russian side had warned Armenia about the possible negative consequences of its becoming a party to the Rome Statute. The ministry stressed that Moscow thought Yerevan’s plans to join the ICC Rome Statute after it had issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president were unacceptable. According to deputy speaker of Armenia’s parliament Akop Arshakyan, Yerevan can see to it that its further actions linked with the ratification of the Rome Statute do not harm the country’s strategic relations with Russia.

The International Criminal Code was founded on the basis of the Rome Statute in 1998. To date, 123 countries are parties to the international treaty. Among those who are not parties to the Statute are Russia (signed but did not ratify), the United States (signed but later withdrew its signature), and China (did not sign). In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order stating Russia would not become an ICC member. According to the Russian foreign ministry, the court "has failed to live up to expectations and become a truly independent body of international justice."