ISTANBUL: Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada ratified the Rome Statute on Wednesday, passing the bill with 281 votes in favor. Prior to the vote, MPs received support letters from the General Staff and Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, according to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak. Commenting on the ratification of the Rome Statute, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X that Kyiv has become the 125th member of the International Criminal Court. "This has been a long journey full of challenges, myths, and fears. None of them have been true. And today, we are finally there, thanks to President @ZelenskyyUA's leadership, years of systemic work by the Foreign Ministry and other institutions, and the will of Ukrainian parliamentarians," Kuleba said. Kuleba further defined the Rome Statute's ratification as "another significant step toward joining the EU." The draft bill, proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Thursday, aims to align Ukraine's Criminal Code with the Rome Statute of th e International Criminal Court (ICC). The explanatory note for the bill highlighted the need to harmonize Ukrainian criminal law with international standards, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict with Russia. The Rome Statute, adopted in 1998, established the ICC based in The Hague. Source: Anadolu Agency