Russia snubs UN court hearings in case brought by Ukraine

A row of seats reserved for Russian lawyers at the International Court of Justice was empty Monday morning as the hearing opened.

By Associated Press

Russia has snubbed a hearing at the United Nations’ top court into a legal bid by Kyiv to halt Moscow’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.

The International Court of Justice opened two days of hearings at its headquarters, the Peace Palace, into Ukraine’s request for its judges to order Russia to halt its invasion.

A row of seats reserved for Russian lawyers at the International Court of Justice was empty Monday morning as the hearing opened.

The court’s president, American judge Joan E. Donoghue, said Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands informed judges that “his government did not intend to participate in the oral proceedings.”

The hearing went ahead without the Russian delegation.

If the court were to order a halt to hostilities, “I think the chance of that happening is zero,” said Terry Gill, a professor of military law at the University of Amsterdam. He noted that if a nation does not abide by the court’s order, judges