MOSCOW, August 22 (RAPSI) – At a meeting with Ukrainian ambassadors, Pavel Klimkin, the Ukraine Foreign Minister, has stated that the country’s government prepared an appellation to the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over alleged violation of the UN maritime convention on the part of Russia, Ukrainian Evropeyskaya Pravda newspaper reports on Monday.

“In the nearest future we will lodge our case over violation by Russia of its commitments under the Convention on the Law of the Sea for further examination,” Klimkin said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister refused to provide details about the appellation to the UN Tribunal; however, as it has already been reported earlier, yet in July Ukraine protested against Russia’s sea exploration activities near the peninsula alleging they violated its exclusive economic zone. 

In its turn, on August 18 the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that on August 11 Russian representatives met with a Ukrainian delegation in Minsk to discuss the Convention; unfortunately, Ukraine used the meeting not for a meaningful conversation, but “to gain a formal reason to announce completion of out-of-court consultations with Russia regarding sovereign rights to Crimean waters.” According to Maria Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry official spokesperson, it was seen as a liberal interpretation of the Convention. “Ukraine’s refusal to wait for our response indicates that there was no intention to discuss these issues whatsoever. For its part, Russia remains open to a discussion of any questions regarding the convention,” Zakharova said.

Alongside lodging an application with the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, according to Klimkin, the Ukrainian government was ready to take other legal actions against Russia, for instance, to prove that Russia financed terrorism and violated the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in Crimea.