Ukraine and Russia faced off on Monday, September 23, before the world’s oldest arbitration court over a long-running dispute over access to the Sea of Azov surrounding Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow.
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kyiv had accused Moscow in September 2016 of deliberately obstructing access to the Sea of Azov before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), based in The Hague. The lawyer of the Ukrainian side, Anton Korynevych, accused Russia on Monday of not respecting international law. Russia is not free to rewrite maritime laws ” he hammered home.
He claimed that Kerch Bridgebuilt by Moscow to connect the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, hampers international shipping as do excessive Russian controls. Russia now considers the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov and possibly even parts of the Black Sea as its territorial waters ” he said in court. Russia wants these waters to be considered part of its empire in the 21st century “.
A case ” unfounded » for Russia
For his part, Russia’s lawyer, Gennady Kuzmin, said that the kyiv case was “ completely baseless and hopeless “After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the disputed seas are considered internal waters and therefore do not fall under the scope of international navigation laws, Mr. Kuzmin said. He said that the Kerch Bridge had been built to alleviate what he called a “ blocking “Ukrainian Crimea, denying that it obstructs navigation. Ukraine’s claims are outside your jurisdiction and must be rejected in their entirety. ” he told the CPA.
Ukraine has asked the PCA to order Russia to ” cease its illegal international actions in the relevant waters “Russia had filed an objection in 2019, claiming that the arbitration court had no jurisdiction over Crimea’s sovereignty. In 2020, the PCA ruled in Russia’s favor and asked Ukraine to file a new case.
The hearings are scheduled to last until October 5. The CPA, a court created in 1899, often takes months or even years to render a decision.