Ukraine Allies Are Permitted to Join the Case Against Russian Invasion by a Top UN Court

Friday, the highest court of the UN granted the go-ahead for Ukraine’s western allies to back it in its legal battle with Russia.

After the invasion in February 2022, Ukraine summoned Moscow to The Hague’s International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Judges ordered Moscow to halt its military actions in Ukraine in a preliminary judgment last year.

Many of Ukraine’s allies then requested permission to “intervene” in the case, in which Kyiv accuses Moscow of fabricating evidence of genocidal activity in eastern Ukraine to support its invasion and of preparing genocidal activity itself.

On Friday, judges announced a ruling allowing 32 nations, including France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, to back Ukraine.

The statements of intervention submitted in this instance are acceptable, the court concluded.

However, the United States’ request to join the lawsuit was denied by the ICJ.

The major focus of the allies’ involvement is determining whether the ICJ has jurisdiction over the matter, which might take months or perhaps years to determine.

By invading to stop what it claimed to be genocide in pro-Russian parts of eastern Ukraine, Russia, according to Ukraine, violated the UN genocide treaty early in the conflict.

The ICJ’s directive to Russia in March of last year to cease its invasion was just a preliminary verdict, awaiting a determination of the tribunal’s suitability to handle the situation.

Following World War II, the ICJ was established to resolve conflicts between UN member nations. It has no methods of enforcing its rulings, yet they are still binding.

The decision was made while the court was addressing a different case brought by Ukraine, which claimed that Russia had supported separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine for years prior to the invasion.