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• Ukraine accused Russia of falsely trying to justify its invasion through a faulty interpretation of the UN genocide treaty
• Russian and Ukrainian delegations held the fourth round of talks but did not announce any new progress
On Monday, the United Nations’ top court said it would give a judgment on Ukraine’s charge on Russia on March 16.
Kyiv filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, demanding a tribunal order to end the offense and cease military activities.
Ukraine accused Russia of falsely trying to justify its invasion under an international convention through a faulty interpretation of the UN genocide treaty.
Russia alleged that Ukraine engaged in genocide in the regions held by pro-Russian separatists.
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Moreover, Moscow declined to turn up to a hearing at the UN court on March 7.
After World War II, the ICJ was set up to prosecute disputes between the 193 United Nations member states.
Although the UN’s top court is based on treaties and conventions and its rulings are binding, it has no actual means to enforce them.
War crime investigation
ICJ’s case is separate from the investigation launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a different tribunal also based in The Hague.
ICC’s top prosecutor Karim Khan on February 28 launched an investigation for Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.
In a statement, he said his office had received referrals for such an investigation from 39 member nations of the ICC, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The United States is not a member of the ICC, nor are Russia or Ukraine.
Diplomatic talks
Although Russian and Ukrainian delegations held the fourth round of talks on Monday via video link rather than in person, the two countries did not announce any new progress.
Ukraine said it held the talks with Russia on a ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops and security guarantees.
The negotiations wrapped later in the day, and they were expected to start up again Tuesday.
The two countries were unsuccessful in making any progress in halting the war on Thursday, the first high-level talks between the foreign ministers since the war.
In the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov indicated that it would continue with attacks until its goals get met.
“The broad narrative he conveyed to me is that they will continue their aggression until Ukraine meets their demands, and the least of these demands is surrender,” Kuleba said in the press conference.