Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba during a video meeting with legal advisers of Ukraine has said that defending of rights and interests of Ukraine and its citizens is the main goal of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, and establishing justice and holding perpetrators accountable is a priority.
“The minister has been replaced in the ministry and, to a large extent, the legal team [was reshuffled], but our goal remains the same – to bring Russia to international legal responsibility for all violations of international law that it has committed during the aggression against Ukraine. We will work closely with legal advisers, and our common victory will also be a victory of international law in general,” the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said, quoting Kuleba as speaking with Professors Harold Hongju Koh, Jean-Marc Thouvenin, Alfred H. Soons, legal partners of Covington and Burling Marney Cheek and Jonathan Gimblett.
It is reported that the legal advisers and the team of the ministry discussed in detail the state of all disputes between Ukraine and Russia and determined the strategy and tactics for further work.
The participants paid particular attention to the case of the detention of Ukrainian naval vessels and 24 crew members in November 2018 and a memorandum that Ukraine should submit to the Arbitration Tribunal by the end of next week.
“The struggle of Ukraine on the legal front continues, and the cases of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine are at a decisive stage. The legal advisers of Ukraine and the team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make every effort to successfully complete and implement other elements of the legal defense strategy,” the foreign ministry said.
