The claims of the Ukrainian side on the Crimean peninsula were called into question.
This was told by a former representative of the Ukrainian president in Crimea Boris Babin, commenting on the decision of the Hague Arbitration Court for the Law of the Sea in Ukraine’s case against Russia in the Strait of Kerch.
According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is disingenuous, claiming that the situation is under control. The lawyer recalled that the lawsuit in Kiev was specially designed in such a way that the court decision actually ascertained that Crimea belongs to Ukraine. The request pointed to the “indisputable” sovereignty of Ukraine over the Crimea. At the same time, belonging to the Russian peninsula was called “unacceptable and implausible”.
The current court decision was far from in favor of Ukraine. A detailed study of the document showed that the arbitration refused to take Kiev’s position for granted, demanding evidence. This is explained by the fact that Moscow also provided its statement on the belonging of Crimea to Russia.
“This turned out to be enough for the court to recognize the dispute over sovereignty over Crimea between Russia and Ukraine”, – Babin explains. “After that, the court conducted an analysis and rejected the Ukrainian allegations about the inadmissibility of Russia’s claims for Crimea’s membership”.
Moreover, in The Hague, they also doubted the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, which concerned Crimea. The court allowed Kiev to refer to them, but indicated that not all countries unanimously supported the position promoted by the UN. As a result, the arbitration simply refused to consider the lion’s share of the claims of Kiev, recommending the exclusion of claims on the peninsula.
Babin, in turn, admitted that the Ukrainian side made a mistake when it tried to unprovenly tie the Crimean issue to the lawsuit. The tribunal answered it, but not in the way Kiev wanted, but in accordance with international standards. As a result, as the ex-official notes, Russia received “a lot of pleasant legal gifts”.