Yerevan's plan to become party to ICC discussed with Moscow

Armenia discussed with Russia its plans to come under the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction, Reuters reported on Sunday citing Russian media.

Armenia's move has been strongly opposed by Moscow after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The court in The Hague accused Putin in March of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds or more children from Ukraine, a claim condemned by the Kremlin as meaningless and outrageously partisan.

The warrant obliges the court's member states to detain and transfer Putin if he sets foot on their territory.

The ambassador at large of Armenia's Foreign Ministry, Edmon Marukyan, said Yereven has sent "proposals" on the issue to Moscow. "A meeting was held and the process is underway," he said.

He stressed that Armenia's plan to become a party to the Rome Statute, bringing it under the international court's remit, was "not against the Russian Federation but because of war crimes committed on territory of the Republic of Armenia by the Azerbaijani side."

"Our Russian partners are well aware of this," he added.