Despite a warning from Russia, on June 16, the Armenian government announced its intention to request the National Assembly’s ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC) founding treaty.

In March, Armenia’s Constitutional Court approved the ICC treaty's parliamentary ratification, also known as the Rome Statute. This decision was made just a week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.

Following the announcement of Armenia’s intention to ratify the ICC treaty, Moscow promptly issued a warning, stating that acknowledging the jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal would lead to extremely negative consequences for Russian-Armenian relations.

In response to RFE/RL's Armenian Service, the government's press office provided a written reply stating that the Rome Statute would be submitted to parliament for ratification soon. However, the reply did not specify whether lawmakers, who largely belong to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract party, would be told to ratify the treaty in its entirety or with reservations.

Armenia was one of the 120 countries that signed the Rome Statute in 1998. However, the treaty was not ratified by previous Armenian parliaments due to a ruling by the Constitutional Court in 2004 which concluded that the treaty conflicted with certain provisions of the Armenian constitution safeguarding national sovereignty over judicial matters.

Read also: Armenia to Ratify International Criminal Court Treaty