“The decision is not legitimate”: in Russia they responded to the demands of the International Tribunal for Ukrainian Seamen

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the incident in the Kerch Strait region on November 25 last year. Moscow stated that it is not possible to apply the procedures described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to this incident.

“As it was repeatedly noted by the Russian side, the statements made by both Russia and Ukraine, when signing and ratifying the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of ​​1982, exclude the possibility of using the Convention’s dispute resolution procedures concerning the incident of November 25, 2018 in the Kerch Strait” - said the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said that at this stage we are not talking about the consideration of the claims of Ukraine. In the course of the subsequent arbitration, Moscow intends to “consistently defend the position”, including “the absence of arbitration of jurisdiction by the arbitration” to consider the incident.

The ministry indicated that the situation in the Kerch Strait in November 2018 could have been avoided if Kiev had complied with the requirements of Russian legislation regarding navigation in the area.

“We urge the Ukrainian side to act in exactly this way in the future,” concluded the Foreign Ministry.

• Hall of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
• globallookpress.com
• © Markus Scholz

The head of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, called the arbitration decision illegitimate.

"The decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which satisfied Ukraine’s demand for the return of ships and the release of crews arrested last year in connection with an attempt to illegally cross the Russian border, cannot be considered legitimate, since this incident is not within the jurisdiction of this judicial body and those conventions, to which he refers, "- wrote Kosachev on Facebook.

It became known earlier that on Saturday, May 25, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea demanded that Russia release Ukrainian warships and sailors detained in the Kerch Strait for violating the Russian border.

Recall, November 25, 2018, three ships of the Ukrainian Navy illegally crossed the Russian border in the Kerch Strait area. The crew did not follow the rules of passage and ignored attempts by the border services of the FSB of Russia to get in touch. The Russian side was forced to use force, the violators were detained.

In the course of the inspection that followed, documents were found on the ships, including direct instructions on how to move from Odessa to Berdyansk in "secretive order." 22 Ukrainian seamen and two officers of the Security Service of Ukraine who were aboard were arrested. Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident in the Kerch Strait was a deliberate provocation by the Ukrainian authorities.

It is noteworthy that, in its decision, the tribunal did not consider it necessary to demand that Russia stop criminal prosecution of seamen and refrain from initiating new cases.

Russia notified the tribunal in advance that it would not participate in the consideration of the claim, indicating that the authority was not competent to consider this incident.

The statements of the International Tribunal do not oblige Russia to anything, lawyer and international lawyer Dmitry Romanenko said in an interview with RT.

“The whole structure of this tribunal is designed for the voluntary execution of its decisions. There are no mechanisms of coercion, ”he said.

According to Romanenko, Ukraine can use this decision only to make a fuss in the press.

“The whole story with the sailors is exclusively in the plane of the Russian criminal procedure legislation and other norms cannot be applied here,” the expert concluded.

The Ukrainian side interacted with international organizations and Western sponsors and did not negotiate with Russia due to the fact that this was a consequence of Kiev’s political decisions, said international lawyer, honorary lawyer of Russia Valery Vanin.

“There was no task to rescue ships and sailors. The task was to exert pressure on Russia. This is all predicted. It was initially clear how Russia would respond to the violation of its borders. It was a deliberate provocation, ”said the expert in a conversation with RT.

In his opinion, Ukraine was confident that in the West it would be supported anyway.

“It was another informational reason to put pressure on Russia. Poroshenko did not know how to tense up the situation in the country, ”the expert believes.

"Step to unblock the negotiations"

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky expressed the view that Russia's implementation of the decision of the International Tribunal can be "the first signal from the Russian leadership about real readiness to end the conflict with Ukraine."

“Thus, Russia can take a step towards unblocking the talks and solving the problems created by it in a civilized way. We will see which path will be chosen in the Kremlin, ”Zelensky wrote on Facebook, adding that the arrested sailors“ are very much waiting at home. ”

In turn, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine called the decision of the International Tribunal "a real victory."

“We expect that Russia will quickly and fully execute the order of the tribunal,” the deputy head of the Ukrainian department, Elena Zerkal, wrote on Facebook.

State Duma deputy from the Republic of Crimea Ruslan Balbek suggested that Kiev’s actions point to Kiev’s conscious reluctance to return sailors.

“They are victims at the slaughter of other people's political games: first Poroshenko, and now Zelensky. And instead of choosing a direct path and taking the first step, Ukraine chooses a roundabout, ”said Balbec in an interview with RT.

According to him, Kiev’s behavior indicates that it needs not sailors, but papers from an international tribunal, statements by Western politicians and sanctions against Russia.

We cannot speak blackmail with Moscow, said the first deputy chairman of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov.

“The Ukrainian side may not start negotiations with Russia if it sets some conditions. It is Kiev that is interested in improving relations with Moscow. Zelensky is acting incorrectly, it is unacceptable to communicate with his nearest neighbor in the same way, ”said RT senator.