The Gambur Tribunal supported Ukraine’s position on the Kerch Strait
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg supported the position of Ukraine, which demands that Russia release the participants in the provocation - an attempt to break through the Russian border near the Kerch Strait at the end of 2018 - 24 crew members of three Ukrainian Navy ships.
The corresponding decision was announced on Saturday, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The Tribunal stated the need to respect “the immunity of Ukrainian warships and crew.”
“The Russian Federation must immediately release the Ukrainian warships... The Russian Federation must immediately release the 24 detained Ukrainian military personnel and allow them to return to Ukraine,” the read decision says.
At the same time, the tribunal did not support Ukraine’s demand that Russia terminate the criminal case investigating the incident near the Kerch Strait. The tribunal also called on “to refrain from actions that could deepen the dispute.”
As is known, Russia ignored the tribunal meeting and did not send its representatives to the meetings.
“The failure of a party to appear does not exempt it from participation in the consideration of the case, and it is obliged to comply with the decisions of the tribunal,” the decision emphasizes.
Earlier, Russian political scientist Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak predicted that Moscow would ignore the tribunal’s verdict.
“Russia made its choice by ignoring the meetings in Hamburg, while Ukraine insists that the verdict will be binding in any case. What else? That’s right - nothing, the notorious international law does not provide for any responsibility for failure to comply with the decisions of the tribunal on the law of the sea,” the Russian expert asserted.
Ukrainian diplomat Elena Zerkal publishes a different forecast.
“We expect Russia to quickly and fully comply with the Tribunal’s order. Let me remind you that in a similar case – Arctic Sunrise – Russia also did not take part, but quickly freed the people,” she said.
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