The National Assembly of Armenia should consider the consequences of country’s joining the Rome Statute and assess the risks for the allied relations with Russia. According to the Russian news agency TASS, Yuri Vorobyov, the vice-chairman of the Federation Council and co-chairman of the inter-parliamentary commission of cooperation, said at a meeting of the Inter-parliamentary commission on cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National Assembly of Armenia.

"As we understand, this means that Armenia recognizes the jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal in relation to all the cases that it conducts. We assume that this step of our Armenian partners does not have an anti-Russian connotation, but in practice, it causes tangible damage to Russian-Armenian relations.

We call on our allies to once again carefully consider the implications of joining the Rome Statute and assess the potential risks to allied relations with Russia. In this case, I appeal to the parliamentarians," said Vorobyov.

The Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled on March 24, 2023, that the Rome Statute does not contradict the country's constitution. However, if Armenia joins the Rome Statute, that would mean it recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court of The Hague that recently issued an international warrant for the arrest of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner of Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova – both accused of deporting Ukrainian children.

The International Criminal Court was established by the Rome Statute in 1998. Now 123 countries have joined the international agreement. Now Vladimir Putin cannot travel to countries that have ratified the Rome Statute and countries that recognize the court's jurisdiction (124 states). They are all the countries of Europe, all of South America (including such allies of Russia as Venezuela, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Brazil, South Africa, Central African Republic, and Nigeria).