News - MoD: Russia offered Armenia ways to circumvent Rome Statute

Before Armenia ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (RS ICC), Moscow put forward a proposal to Yerevan to circumvent it, the Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated in response to a request from Lenta.ru. The request concerned a statement by the Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hakob Arshakyan. According to him, several months before the ratification of the Statute, Yerevan offered Moscow to sign an agreement giving the opportunity to bypass the requirements of the statute, but allegedly never received a response. “This is not true,” the Russian ministry emphasized, saying that Moscow provided a response to Yerevan’s proposal. “During bilateral consultations, the Russian side put forward proposals in response - to take the path of using the mechanisms of the ICC without ratifying the Rome Statute. There is such a practice. Unfortunately, our compromise solutions were ignored,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry also complained that Yerevan “for purely political reasons” decided to ratify the RS. “If Yerevan remains interested in solving problems created by its own hands, then, in our opinion, there are opportunities for this within the framework of the Armenian legal system,” the department added.