Armenia has mentioned that it received’t arrest Vladimir Putin regardless of getting ready to hitch the Worldwide Prison Courtroom which has labelled the Russian leader a war criminal.
Since its constitutional courtroom accredited becoming a member of the ICC final week, the Kremlin has threatened Armenia with “severe detrimental penalties” and banned its dairy imports.
However in a blow to the authority of the ICC, a high Armenian official has now confirmed that police won’t arrest Mr Putin if he travels to Yerevan.
“The choice of the constitutional courtroom doesn’t discover anybody responsible in any matter and doesn’t require steps to arrest anybody,” mentioned Hakob Arshakyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament. “We’ve got heard considerations expressed by the Russian Federation.”
For the Kremlin, Armenia’s transfer in direction of the ICC was not solely a humiliation but in addition posed a sensible drawback.
The ICC dominated final month that Mr Putin was a war criminal for authorising the kidnapping of hundreds of youngsters from Ukraine. Which means that the ICC now expects its 123 member states, and aspirants like Armenia, to arrest him.
Important ally
Mr Putin’s journey choices have shrunk since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February and he has restricted himself primarily to visiting former Soviet Central Asia and the South Caucasus. He travelled to Armenia in November for a safety convention.
The conflict has weakened Russia’s energy and affect over its former Soviet satellite states.
Armenia as soon as considered Russia as an important ally that was capable of impose peace within the South Caucasus however final yr, Nikol Pashinyan, its prime minister, accused the Kremlin of failing to cease Azerbaijani border assaults.
He has since cancelled a army train, threatened to depart the Russia-led CSTO safety group and courted the US and the EU.
Armenia’s parliament accredited becoming a member of the ICC in 1999 however this was blocked 5 years later by its constitutional courtroom.
In 2015 Armenia adopted a brand new structure and in 2021 Mr Pashinyan requested the constitutional courtroom to rethink becoming a member of the ICC as a result of he needs to prosecute Azerbaijani army commanders accused of crimes throughout a conflict in 2020.