`Skipped UN Court hearing because of the absurdity of lawsuit`: Russia on Ukraine matter

New Delhi: Russia on Wednesday (March 9) said that it skipped the hearing at the International Court of Justice on the Ukraine matter as the lawsuit was absurd, Russia`s foreign ministry said on Twitter, in its first public statement.

"On March 7-8, the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague held a hearing on the request for provisional measures presented by Ukraine in an unsubstantiated lawsuit against Russia. In light of the apparent absurdity of the lawsuit, we decided not to attend it," read the statement.

Ukraine filed a lawsuit in the World Court against Russia demanding the court to order Russia to immediately suspend the unprovoked military operations launched on February 24 that have as their stated purpose and objective the prevention and punishment of a claimed genocide" in the separatist eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The hearing on the case began on Monday and went on for two days.

Russia did not attend hearings on Monday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which is the UN court for resolving disputes between nations.

Ukraine argued that Russia had wrongly tried to justify its invasion on false assertions that it was attacking in self-defence to prevent genocide.

Russia`s tweet said it had not attended "in light of the apparent absurdity of the lawsuit".

A decision is expected on the request within days, though it remains to be seen if Russia would abide by any order the court might issue.

(With inputs from Reuters)