Russia must suspend military operations in Ukraine-ICJ, US welcomes

The US welcomed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order asking Russia to suspend its military operations in Ukraine on Wednesday (local time), State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. “The United States will continue to act with our allies and partners in support of Ukraine,” he said.

Earlier, the ICJ at The Hague ruled that pending the final decision in the case, Russia must suspend the military operations that it commenced on February 24 in the territory of Ukraine. The Court also observed that it did not possess any evidence substantiating Russia’s claims that genocide had been committed by Ukraine in the Donbas region, the press statement said. Ukraine on February 26 had filed an application at the ICJ to initiate proceedings against the Russian Federation under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

“By thirteen votes to two, The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine,” the ICJ said in its order laying out provisional measures, adding that “Both Parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.” The court comprises 15 judges. President of the ICJ Judge Joan E Donoghue (USA), Judge Peter Tomka (Slovakia), Judge Ronny Abraham (France), Judge Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco), Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia), Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda), Judge Dalveer Bhandari (India), Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Judge Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), Judge Iwasawa Yuji (Japan), Judge Georg Nolte (Germany), Judge Hilary Charlesworth (Australia), Judge ad hoc Daudet voted in favour of the direction.

MULTIMEDIA: photos and videos of the reading of the #ICJ Order indicating provisional measures in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (#Ukraine v. #Russia) https://t.co/LGlsIup3HS pic.twitter.com/34DxdlkE7V

— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) March 16, 2022

Following the international court's order, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky asked Russia to immediately comply with the order though peace negotiations are going on. "Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further," Zelenskyy said on Twitter.