Kremlin rejects top UN court order to halt Ukraine offensive

A woman with a child evacuates from a residential building damaged by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Reuters)

• Kremlin: Both parties – Russia and Ukraine – had to agree for the ruling to be implemented

MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Thursday rejected an order by the UN’s top court for Russia to suspend the military offensive in Ukraine, a day after judges in The Hague announced their ruling.
“We cannot take this decision into account,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that both parties – Russia and Ukraine – had to agree for the ruling to be implemented.
“No consent can be obtained in this case,” Peskov said.
The UN’s International Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that Moscow should “immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on February 24 on the territory of Ukraine.”
Kyiv dragged Moscow to the UN’s top court days after President Vladimir Putin launched his military campaign.
Peskov claimed that Moscow’s delegation in talks with Kyiv to end fighting was “showing much greater readiness than our counterparts to negotiate.”