Vladimir Putin will no longer be able to travel freely to Armenia, which has previously been a good ally.
This is because Armenia has now taken a final step to join the ICC, which means they have to arrest Putin if he shows up.
The announcement means additional headaches for an already pressured Vladimir Putin, writes TV4 Nyheternas Lisa Grenfors.
What does membership in the International Criminal Court ICC entail?
The 124 members must extradite criminal suspects to the ICC in The Hague. It is regulated in the Rome Statute and means, for example, that Russian President Putin must be arrested and extradited if he is on Armenian territory.
Putin is charged with war crimes related to the children deported from Ukraine after the full-scale invasion, and the announcement means an additional headache for an already stressed president.
What is the relationship between Armenia and Russia today?
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. Armenia has long leaned towards Russia, but a shift has begun. This is partly due to the war in Ukraine.
Armenia has quite recently hosted American soldiers for joint military exercises. At the same time, Armenia is still part of a military cooperation, ODBK, with Russia and other states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
It is unclear whether the president thinks the country should remain there. For Armenia, it became clear that Russia was not a reliable party as the peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh hardly made a difference when Azerbaijan went on the offensive a few weeks ago. Instead, nearly 120,000 Armenians were forced to flee.
This is also at stake when Armenia evaluates the friendship of its former ally.
How has the war in Ukraine affected Armenia?
In an interview this summer, Prime Minister Pashinyan said that Armenia needs to reduce its dependence on other countries. He also said that Armenia can no longer rely on Russia as a guarantor of security.
It is clear that Armenia has made an analysis which means that Russia is too busy with the war in Ukraine to have time for Armenia. In addition, the situation is complicated by the fact that neighboring Turkey has strengthened its ties to Azerbaijan, which attacked Nagorno-Karabakh a couple of weeks ago when over 100,000 Armenians began their flight.