Russian President Vladimir Putin decided the destination of his first visit abroad after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him, AFP and Agerpres report.
Vladimir Putin with Sadir Japarov, here on his right, at the “Victory Day” celebrations in the Second World WarPhoto: Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik / Profimedia Images
“At the invitation of the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadir Japarov, on October 12, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will pay an official visit to the country,” Kabar, the Kyrgyz news agency, quoted an official of the presidential administration of this Asian state as saying. Central allied with Moscow.
Vladimir Putin will participate on October 13 in Bishkek to a meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, which groups several ex-Soviet republics), as well as to a gala on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the opening of a Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan.
The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, had announced at the end of September that the Russian president would pay a visit to this Central Asian state, but he did not specify the date.
The visit will be Putin’s first abroad after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in the spring on charges of deporting children from Ukraine, which limits his international travel.
For this reason, the Russian president had to give up going to the BRICS summit held in South Africa in August, which marked a historic expansion of the informal organization.
Vladimir Putin will no longer be able to visit one of Moscow’s allies
The announcement of Putin’s visit to Kyrgyzstan comes just a day after Armenia, another Russian ally in the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) military alliance, ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, accepting the court’s jurisdiction. at the Hague on its territory.
Eghiche Kirakosian, an Armenian official in charge of international justice affairs, said joining the ICC “creates additional guarantees for Armenia” vis-à-vis Azerbaijan, which has just won a landslide military victory ending Armenian separatism in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ratification of this statute would ensure that a possible invasion of Armenia “would come under the jurisdiction of the ICC,” which would have a “deterrent effect,” Kirakosian told Armenian lawmakers.
The project has angered Russia, with the Kremlin last Thursday denouncing the mere prospect of Armenia joining the ICC as “extremely hostile”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again denounced Yerevan’s decision on Tuesday afternoon after it was announced.
“We doubt that Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute would be correct from the point of view of bilateral relations. We continue to believe that it is a wrong decision”, declared the spokesperson of the Russian presidency.
Even though relations between Moscow and Yerevan have collapsed due to Russia’s inaction in the face of Azeri aggression against its ally, Peskov declared that Armenia has “nothing better” than the alliance with Moscow.
