The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, commenting on the decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in relation to Kerch Strait incident, that there was no possibility of invoking the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to resolve the issue
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2019) The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, commenting on the decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in relation to Kerch Strait incident, that there was no possibility of invoking the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to resolve the issue.
Earlier in the day, the ITLOS demanded Russia to release Ukrainian warships seized in the Kerch Strait for violating the Russian border last year. However, the tribunal noted that it did not demand to cancel criminal prosecution of 24 detained sailors.
"As the Russian side has repeatedly stated, statements made by both Russia and Ukraine, when signing and ratifying the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, rule out the possibility of using the convention's dispute resolution procedures regarding the incident of November 25, 2018 in the Kerch Strait," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that at the current stage, Ukraine's claims had not been considered, and that during the subsequent arbitration, Russia intends to consistently defend its position, including the lack of jurisdiction of the arbitration to consider this situation in the light of these circumstances.
"It was possible to avoid such situation, provided that the requirements of the Russian legislation concerning navigation in this area were observed. We urge the Ukrainian side to act this way in the future," the ministry stressed.
The Russian side previously informed the ITLOS that it would not take part in the hearings, since this tribunal did not have jurisdiction to consider Ukraine's claims.
On November 25, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats, and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels and detained crew members after they failed to respond to a demand to stop. After the incident, a criminal case on illegal border crossing was opened in Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly slammed Kiev's attempts to portray the detained sailors as prisoners of war, stressing that they faced criminal charges. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to declare martial law in Ukraine, which was announced after the incident and lasted for a month. Putin said the provocation might have been linked to former Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko's low approval ratings before the presidential election, which his rival Volodymyr Zelensky ultimately won.
