Crimea's Reunification With Russia Breached No Laws - Justice Minister

Moscow’s stance on Ukraine’s disputes in the European Court of Human Rights on the reunification of Crimea with Russia is that Russia has not breached any international laws or any other instances with Ukraine, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) – In an interview on the sidelines of an international law forum in St. Petersburg, the minister told RIA Novosti:

“Russia considers its position to be in accordance with international law in the process of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol’s reunification with Russia and does not consider it has breached any international laws in other aspects in mutual cooperation with Ukraine.”

Konovalov declined to expand in detail on Russia’s position on Ukraine’s dispute in the ECHR that is currently being reviewed in Strasbourg “because this dispute that was communicated needs to be thoroughly studied.”

Ukraine filed its first suits with the international courts, including the ECHR, after signing into law a classification of Crimea and Sevastopol as "temporarily occupied territories" in mid-April, 2014.

After over 60 years since its transfer to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and spurred by last year's ouster of then-president Viktor Yanukovych, Crimea voted by an overwhelming majority in a referendum last March to rejoin Russia.