10:23 30.10.2018

By denouncing Azov treaty with Russia, Ukraine likely to get into new territorial dispute

2 min read
By denouncing Azov treaty with Russia, Ukraine likely to get into new territorial dispute

The denunciation of the 2003 treaty between Russia and Ukraine on cooperation in using the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait may lead to a new territorial dispute involving the delimitation of the Sea of Azov, Olena Zerkal , Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration, has announced.

"The treaty itself is composed of five articles, one of which has never been implemented, that is the delimitation of the Sea of Azov has never been carried out. From the viewpoint of additional rights, Ukraine will not get anything [by denouncing the treaty] but we can get into a new territorial dispute with the Russian Federation as to how to do the delimitation of the Sea of Azov," she said during a talk show named "Freedom of Speech" that was broadcast live on October 29 night.

She said that Ukraine's lawsuit against the Russian Federation is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea even though there was a bilateral treaty with Russia.

"Indeed, I think that that treaty was not compiled in accordance with the law from the viewpoint of the Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, the questions to it have to be answered by the Tribunal, and we expect this answer to arrive as early as next year," Zerkal said.

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