Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in the framework of the "Interview" program Public TV of Armenia, referring to the nuances of Russia's perception of relations with the West, also speaking about the ratification of the Rome Statute, said:
"Look, in terms of perception, I admit there is a problem, because look at what happened with the Rome Statute. In 2020, we after September, when we saw that our systems were not working, we began to look for other factors that could contribute to our security. And we saw that we have a signed Rome Statute, which, by the way, Russian Federation has also signed. And we also saw that at one time the Constitutional Court recognized it as unconstitutional, but considering the fact that the Constitution of Armenia was changed twice after that decision, we decided to appeal to the Constitutional Court again, that is, in 2022. It was in December."
Pashinyan reminded that according to Armenian legislation, the Constitutional Court must make a decision within three months. And the three months of the Constitutional Court ended at a time when the International Criminal Court made a decision against the President of the Russian Federation, it happened on the same days.
"It seems like an obvious coincidence, doesn't it, but look, if the Hague Court makes a decision, the next day or two days later, the Constitutional Court of Armenia publishes its decision that the Statute of Rome corresponds to the Constitution of Armenia.
Now let's look from the side, let's say that they actually made a decision there... It is clear here, but the one who knows the process from the bottom, that the Government in 2022 made that decision in December, and we haven't had any problem from the Russian Federation in this regard, we haven't had any indication that this could become a problem. We had an impulse at the moment when the train was already moving and that train, inevitably, had to arrive. And it is obvious that it is in no way related to the relations between Armenia and Russia. Moreover, we proposed to have the same legal regulation as we have with the United States of America, the same legal regulation with the Russian Federation as well," he said.
What is the meaning of legal regulation? In response to this question, the Prime Minister stated.
"We have an agreement with the United States that the relations fixed in those international legal processes do not affect our bilateral relations. And by the way, the Rome Statute gives that possibility, it says that you can be a member of the body with that organism, but you can agree with the countries before or after, it doesn't matter, you can agree that your relations are regulated differently. As a partner, I think we are very honest. By the way, I called on that topic back in March, I took the initiative myself, I called the President of the Russian Federation, I said: I understand that the coincidences are obvious at first glance, but this is the process, and it is verifiable."
Pashinyan mentioned that his impression from the phone call was that there was an understanding, and they continued the process.
