MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Russia expects that its objections to the UN International Court of Justice in the Hague will be taken into consideration during the preliminary hearing concerning the court’s jurisdiction to rule on Kiev’s lawsuit against Moscow on the convention on genocide, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said.

On February 26, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia with the International Court regarding the interpretation, application and compliance with the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. As part of the lawsuit, Kiev denies that genocide took place in Donbass, something that was a root cause of Russia recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and launching the special military operation. In this regard, the Ukrainian side demanded that the court acknowledge that Russia has no legal grounds for any actions in and against Ukraine, and introduced interim measures for the duration of the process in order to prevent the conflict from deteriorating.

"We will keep this issue in our focus; the court will make a decision in the next few months. We hope that our six substantiated objections will be properly taken into consideration when ruling whether the UN has jurisdiction over this issue or not. We will proceed from there," the high-ranking diplomat said.

He specified that this hearing is preliminary and the issue itself will not be reviewed in any substantive way.

Vershinin explained that Ukraine does not accuse Russia of genocide in Donbass, but of allegedly "using allegations of genocide against the people of Donbass by Kiev in order to admit the DPR and LPR to Russia."

"A very clear judicial approach, taking into account the political situation is necessary here, of course," he continued. "It is very important for the court to be objective. So far, we have been watching, how far would the Westerners chase their followers into their anti-Russian position."

Vershinin pointed out that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine was carried out in full compliance with Article 1 of the UN Charter regarding the right of nations to self-determination and with Article 51 regarding the right to collective and individual self-defense.

"With full conviction, we believe we are right," the deputy foreign minister said.