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UN International Court starts hearing Ukraine’s lawsuit against Russia

THE HAGUE, March 6. /TASS/. The UN International Court has opened its session on Monday to hear Ukraine’s lawsuit against Russia on the alleged violations of the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism Financing and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

As the court noted, the hearings related to Ukraine’s request to specify temporary injunctions.

This means that the case is not at the stage of examining its merits, the court added.

The dispute is about Ukraine’s demand for the court to pass an urgent judgement to prevent the situation from being aggravated. Following the results of the hearings, the court is to pass a judgment binding on both sides.

The Russian delegation that comprises of 35 people is headed by Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Legal Department Roman Kolodkin who earlier worked as Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Director of the Department for New Challenges and Threats Ilya Rogachyov and Deputy Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights Grigory Lukyantsev.

"The delegation also includes foreign and Russian advisers, representatives of the Russian Foreign and Defense Ministries, other federal departments and agencies," Head of the Legal Group of the Russian embassy in the Netherlands Viktoria Goncharova earlier told TASS.

The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Yelena Zerkal.

Ukraine filed a lawsuit to the UN International Court on January 16 claiming that Russia was in breach of the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism Financing and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

On the same day, the Ukrainian side sent a request for specifying temporary injunctions, noting that the claims aimed "to protect Ukraine’s rights before a judgement is passed on the merits of the case."

The document specifically urges the court to demand that Russia "refrain from any actions that could exacerbate or intensify disagreements" in compliance with the two conventions.

The hearings scheduled for March 6-9 will deal precisely with temporary injunctions.