Russia wouldn’t want to have any reason for Russian President Vladimir Putin to ever rule out traveling to Armenia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“Of course, we wouldn’t want there to ever be a reason for the president to choose not to visit Armenia,” he told reporters, when asked whether the ratification of the Rome Statute by Armenia means the president won’t be going to that country.

The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, which earlier issued a warrant for the arrest of the Russian president and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children. Moscow rejected the charges, described the idea of bringing them as “outrageous” and said Russia doesn’t recognize ICC jurisdiction, which means the court’s rulings are null and void for the country.

The Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute earlier on Tuesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously told TASS that Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute would take a heavy toll on bilateral relations.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon