On December 19, two bills appeared on the website of the Ukrainian parliament, 0182 and 0183, on the denunciation of the Cooperation Treaty between Ukraine and Russia on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait of 2003, as well as on the withdrawal from the Agreement on the Establishment of the Black Sea Naval Cooperation Group of 2001 .
Until 2022, Ukrainian experts have repeatedly pointed out the need to withdraw from the 2003 Treaty and use exclusively the norms of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in relations with the Kremlin, with the establishment of the boundaries of the territorial sea of Ukraine on Azov. The 2001 agreement, previously signed between the Black Sea countries, has also apparently become irrelevant in the context of the ongoing large-scale naval war.
Recall that earlier, on October 4-6, 2022, Ukraine terminated the interdepartmental Agreement with Russia on fishing in the Sea of Azov, which had previously caused sharp criticism and became the subject of a number of court cases, which we have repeatedly written about.
Thus, against the backdrop of Russia’s criminal attempts to annex the Sea of Azov, Ukraine is preparing a legal basis for its exploitation after de-occupation in accordance with international law. These processes have already been reflected by our Association in its interaction with authorized international structures in the form, prescribed by the resolution of the International Maritime Organization C/ES.35, adopted by IMO in March 2022 as a reaction on the escalation of Russian aggression.
