A provocation in the eyes of Russia. The Armenian Parliament ratified on Tuesday (October 3rd) the accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after rapid debates on this project which arouses the wrath of Moscow, a traditional ally of Yerevan with whom relations have become considerably strained in recent weeks.

The elected representatives voted in favour of the ratification of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, by 60 votes to 22. Russia takes a very dim view of this project, the Court having issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in the spring.

Joining the ICC "would create additional guarantees for Armenia" against Azerbaijan, Eghiche Kirakosian, an Armenian official in charge of international justice affairs, said at the opening of the proceedings on Tuesday.

Baku has just won a lightning military victory, putting an end to the separatism of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan, which accuses Russia of abandoning it in the face of a much richer and better armed adversary, is now worried about the security of its territory.

Ratifying this statute guarantees that a potential invasion of Armenia "will fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC", which will have a "deterrent effect", Eghiche Kirakosian told Armenian elected officials.

Contradictions

Armenia had signed the Rome Statute in 1999 but had not ratified it, citing contradictions with its Constitution - an obstacle that has since been removed.

The opposition parties, which control 36 of the 107 seats in parliament, had protested against the opening of the debates earlier by leaving the session.

Tsovinar Khachatrian, speaker of parliament, had initially announced that the vote would take place on Wednesday.

The Armenian project arouses the anger of Russia, the Kremlin had judged Thursday that the mere fact of considering membership was "extremely hostile".

"We hope of course that these decisions will not have a negative impact on our bilateral relations," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov added.

Armenian official Eghiche Kirakosian said he had proposed to Russia to sign "a bilateral agreement" to allay his concerns, without giving further details.

Relations between Armenia and Russia are going through a turbulent zone. Yerevan, which had moved closer to the West in recent months, felt let down during Azerbaijan's recent offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh – something the Kremlin denies.

Russia deployed a peacekeeping force to the territory three years ago after a brief attack on Azerbaijan. But his troops did not budge during Baku's latest lightning offensive.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu applauded the action of this contingent, thanking the soldiers for their "altruism and professionalism, which made it possible to avoid new victims".

In total, nearly 600 deaths are to be deplored in the wake of the offensive.

Wars

Since then, the enclave has been almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, with more than 100,000 refugees - out of the 120,000 inhabitants officially living there - having fled to Armenia for fear of reprisals from Azerbaijan.

The separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh, never recognized by the international community, have opposed each other for more than three decades in Baku, including in two wars between 1988 and 1994 and in the autumn of 2020.

These clashes have poisoned relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have a stubborn hatred.

Armenia had also accused Azerbaijani troops of violating its border in May 2021 to take control of a small part of the border territory.

With AFP

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