The Kremlin Gambit

The Kremlin gambit continues globally, bombing Aleppo in Syria, supplying Armenia with Iskanders, assigning the presidents of Bulgaria and Moldova and most importantly violating international laws.

Very recently, President Putin issued a decree stating that Russia has left the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, specifically meaning that it has rejected the membership of this court once and for all. Even the last hope has vanished, as nobody can now ever impose any legal responsibility on Russia for the ethnic cleansing during the war of August 2008. However, international law experts still promise that the Kremlin will be held accountable for the committed crimes.

Russia stated that the war of 2008 and the attitude of the Hague International Court of Justice towards it is one of the main reasons behind it leaving the Rome Statute. The Kremlin argues that the resources used for the court hearings are wasted pointlessly and bring no results. Sergey Lavrov Foreign Minister of Russia, says that during its 14-year-long work, the Court has given only four verdicts and yet more than USD 1 billion has been spent. Most importantly, the Kremlin says it is disappointed with the Hague Court and does not believe in its impartiality.

Despite these arguments, it is hard to believe that Georgia and the wasted billions are the true reason for the radical decision by the Kremlin. The nuclear-weapon state rejecting international laws is a much larger-scale event than even the five-day war of Georgia. Therefore, the vector of this decision is clearly aiming in a different direction.

Today, Putin is riding a white horse and wants to ignore everything and everyone around him, says political expert Soso Tsintsadze: “Putin feels his power and he can freely violate any law and disregard even the Pope.” Political expert Soso Tsiskarishvili believes that leaving the Rome Statute is another demonstration of Putin’s authority: “By this decree, Putin publicly repudiated Russia from the rest of the civilized world. Nobody can ever ask Russia why it didn’t follow civilized standards. This will carry a general threat for Georgia, Ukraine and Belorussia as well; a lot has happened to Armenia already in recent days.” The Kremlin has almost shut down the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and has incorporated it into the Russian military group dislocated in the Gyumri military base in Armenia.

This decision by the Kremlin has suspiciously coincided with the beginning of the “armed competition” against NATO. The Kremlin plans to install the so-called C-400 missile systems in Kaliningrad, just as it did in Armenia. Some Iskanders was given to the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, the ministry was later abolished and these are now in the Russian military base in Gyumri. Russia has also done other “homework” as a response to the installation of US missile systems in Europe, said Vladimir Putin.

In short, the legal and armed siege surrounding Georgia is getting narrower and narrower. The Russian army on the occupied territories of Georgia, Iskanders in the neighboring countries and complete legal freedom. In light of this, the suggestion from the current Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda that the Kremlin will be nevertheless responsible for its crimes, seems too optimistic. Ms. Bensouda explained that though the Russian Federation had not ratified the Rome Statute, those proven guilty will still be prosecuted.

The Hague Court was launched in 2002 and the cases it works on include genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Court was founded on the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998 and signed by the Russian Federation, but has not been ratified since.

Zaza Jgarkava