On Monday, the country’s TASS news agency reported that the government of President Vladimir Putin approved a list of countries and territories that commit ‘unfriendly’ actions against Russia, its companies, and its citizens. Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of countries and territories have imposed or joined sanctions against Russia.
In addition to the United States and Canada, the EU states, the UK (including Jersey, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar), Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan (territory of China, but ruled by its own administration since 1949).
At a hearing snubbed by Russia amid its ongoing assault on its neighbor, a representative for Kyiv urged the United Nations’ top court today to order Russia to stop its destructive invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian representative Anton Korynevych told judges at the International Court of Justice: ‘Russia must be stopped and the court has a role to play in stopping it’. Specifically, Ukraine has asked that a court order Russia to ‘immediately suspend’ the military activities launched on Feb. 24 ‘that have among their stated objectives the prevention and punishment of a so-called genocide’ in the separatist eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Korynevych dismissed Moscow’s genocide claim as a ‘horrible lie’. He explained: ‘The fact that all Russian seats are empty speaks volumes. They are not here in this courtroom. They are on a battlefield waging aggression against my country’. A decision is expected within days.
If the court were to order a halt to hostilities, ‘I think the chance of that happening is zero,’ said Terry Gill, a professor of military law at the University of Amsterdam. Judges can seek action from the UN Security Council if a nation does not abide by the court’s order, where Russia holds a veto. During the hearing, the seats in Russia’s Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace’s headquarters were empty.
The court’s president, American judge Joan E. Donoghue, said Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands informed judges that ‘his government did not intend to participate in the oral proceedings’. Ukraine has filed a case based on the Genocide Convention seeking such so-called provisional measures. As a result of the 1948 treaty, both countries are permitted to bring disputes based on their provisions to the Hague-based court.
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