YEREVAN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Armenian parliament approved on Tuesday the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with 60 votes in favor and 22 against.
Following the ratification, the document is to be signed by the country's president and go into effect in 60 days after the completion of internal state procedures, Armenia's state-run news agency Armenpress reported.
Armenia is taking all steps to ensure its security in various ways, the country's MP Sargis Khandanyan, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, said after the ratification.
The move is in the national interests of Armenia and has nothing to do with its relations with Russia, he said.
Russia considered Yerevan's effort to ratify the Rome Statute an "unfriendly step," and the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia's ambassador last month for this.
