Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has termed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “complete victory” against Russia in the ICJ. Post the judgement by ICJ, Zelenskyy said in a tweet, “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 also asked Russia to “immediately” comply with the ICJ order and vacate Ukraine. This comes amid the peace ongoing peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Belarus.
The International Court of Justice on Wednesday ruled that Russia should suspend its military operations in Ukraine with immediate effect. The order that was passed by a majority vote of 13-2 favored Ukraine. Notably, India’s lone judge in the ICJ, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, voted against Russia. This is significant as India has maintained a neutral stance in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. New Delhi has abstained from voting in the resolutions against Russia in the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly.
Russia skipped the hearing in the matter and termed the lawsuit as ‘absurd’. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on a statement, “On March 7-8, UN International Court of Justice in The Hague held a hearing on the request for provisional measures presented by Ukraine in an unsubstantiated lawsuit against Russia. In light of the apparent absurdity of the lawsuit, we decided not to attend it.”
