The issue of the jurisdiction of the International Arbitration Tribunal in The Hague to consider the case of Ukraine against Russia on the incident in the Kerch Strait will be resolved in a few months, reported on Saturday, October 16.
The reason for the trial was the conflict that happened on November 25, 2018. On that day, three Ukrainian ships were forcibly stopped by Russian coast guards in international waters near the annexed Crimea while trying to pass through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea.
Ukrainian servicemen and members of the Security Service of Ukraine who were on the ships were accused of illegal border crossing and held in custody for nine months.
Kiev is confident that the decision will be made in its favor
Ukraine filed a statement of claim in connection with this incident on April 1, 2019. She demanded to admit that the Russian Federation had violated the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In August 2020, Russia filed a preliminary objection, calling into question the jurisdiction of the arbitration. Hearings in The Hague on these preliminary objections were held from 11 to 16 October.
According to Moscow’s statement, Ukraine is using international arbitration to justify its military adventure. In this context, the Russian Federation recalls that what happened in the Kerch Strait occurred against the background of Kiev’s military build-up in the Azov-Black Sea Sea, as well as other provocative actions aimed at challenging Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea.
The judges’ conclusion is expected in a few months. Kiev is confident of its success and has no doubts that the decision will be made in its favor.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
Cooperation between Ukraine and Russia – on paper
“All issues related to the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait should be resolved only by peaceful means jointly or by agreement between Ukraine and Russia …” These are the words from the preamble of the Treaty between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on cooperation in the use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, concluded in 2003 year.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
Conflicts in the Kerch Strait: On What Basis?
According to international law, merchant ships and warships must enjoy freedom of navigation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. However, after the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, the reality in the Sea of Azov began to drift further and further away from this legal principle.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
EU criticizes Russia
The situation worsened with the opening of the Kerch bridge, which connects the Taman Peninsula with the Crimea. Prior to that, according to the resolution of the European Parliament of October 25, 2018, Russian inspections of ships in the Sea of Azov were carried out selectively and did not violate the free movement of ships and cargo. But since the spring of 2018, according to the EU press service, Moscow has been defiantly creating obstacles to merchant shipping.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
“Excessive” checks in the Sea of Azov
Ships heading from Ukrainian ports and to Ukrainian ports are detained by Russian border guards for several hours for inspection. Ports, traders and carriers suffer significant losses. According to the data provided by Kiev, as of the end of September 2018, more than 200 vessels were subjected to enhanced checks, of which 120 were under the flags of the EU countries.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
Arguments of Russia
Meanwhile, the Russian side accuses the Ukrainians of the escalation in the Sea of Azov. So, at the end of March 2018, Ukraine detained in the Sea of Azov and subsequently confiscated the fishing vessel “Nord” registered in Crimea.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
Kerch crisis
The largest incident in the Kerch Strait so far occurred on November 25, when a raid of Ukrainian warships from Odessa into the Sea of Azov ended with shelling by Russian border guards, who claimed that Ukrainians were violating the Russian border, and the detention of Ukrainian soldiers. All three ships were detained and sent to the port of Kerch.
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
“Illegally crossed the border and entered the territorial waters”
The FSB of Russia claims that the Ukrainian ships “illegally crossed the border and entered the territorial waters.” At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia Dmitry Polyansky explained the forceful detention of the ships by the fact that “there was a suspicion that they could transport radicals who threatened to blow up the Kerch Bridge.”
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Kerch Strait: Time.news of Maritime Conflicts of Ukraine and Russia
“Whose Crimea” – this time we are not talking about it
As the professor of the Munich Bundeswehr University Daniel-Erasmus Khan told DW, the issues of the passage of the Kerch Strait are regulated in the same way as the issues of the passage of the Bosphorus or any other strait of the world. “According to the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ukraine has an unlimited right to transit through the Kerch Strait. This does not require any permission from Russia,” the expert noted.
Author: Eugene Teise
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