Ukraine includes Kerch Bridge in international suit against Russia
In its suit against Russia, Ukraine will add a claim about violating the Convention on the Law of the Sea with regard to illegal construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait by Russia, as stated by the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mariana Betsa, reported Interfax-Ukraine.
“This in no way changes the status of the Crimea as an integral part of the territory of Ukraine, which is temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. Of course, this issue of the Kerch Bridge, concerning Russia’s violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, will be in our “Ukraine vs. Russia” suit, which is now being considered in the Arbitration Tribunal,” said Betsa.
On February 19, Ukraine filed this action against the Russian Federation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which shows that Russia violated the sovereign rights of Ukraine in the Black and Azov Seas and the Kerch Strait.
According to Irina Lutsenko, representative of the Ukrainian government in the Verkhovna Rada, Kyiv expects that in 2019 the Arbitration Tribunal will make a decision regarding Ukraine’s petition for protection of its sovereign interests in connection with the construction of the bridge. She said that Ukraine expects that discussion of the matter will begin before the end of 2018.