JUST IN: Int’l Court of Justice orders Russia to halt invasion of Ukraine
Russia has been ordered to halt its invasion of Ukraine by the United Nations’ top court on Wednesday, in a preliminary decision.
Ukraine initiated the case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to contest President Vladimir Putin’s official explanation for entering the country as an effort to end a “genocide” of pro-Russian separatists.
The court voted 13 to 2 in favor of ordering Russia to “suspend” military operations in Ukraine and to prevent armed units from taking further action. Of the two judges in opposition, one was from Russia, the other from China.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a tweet that the order constituted a “complete victory in its case against Russia” and that “ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further.”
But while the court’s preliminary order is in theory binding under international law, there were no signs that Moscow would comply. No Russian representatives showed up when Ukraine argued its case last week. They subsequently submitted a document asserting that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide the case.
A final ruling, potentially years away, would also be expected to have negligible impact.
The ICJ does not appear to have a viable path to enforce the decision. Sanctions could only be imposed by the U.N. Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member and where it has a veto power. The court’s mission is to settle disputes between sovereign nations, and it cannot charge presidents or military leaders with war crimes, for example.
If one of the conflict parties is “ignoring basic principles of war, there’s a question about the utility of invoking the law vis-a-vis that party when you don’t have a strong enforcement power,” said Yuval Shany, an International law expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
But Shany added that a ruling could still have “some value,” for example by debunking the Russian explanation for the invasion.
The proceedings center on Russia’s official explanation for its invasion of Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin has said is intended to achieve the “denazification” of Ukraine and end a “genocide” in the country’s east. There is no evidence to support Russia’s claims.
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