Ukraine says panel has jurisdiction to hear Russia case

FILE - This Monday, Feb. 18, 2019 file photo shows an exterior view of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. Russia has urged an international arbitration panel to throw out a case filed by Ukraine linked to mineral and fishing rights in waters around the Crimean Peninsula. Preliminary hearings that started Monday June 10, 2019 in The Hague stem from Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, a move that Ukraine and most of the world view as illegal. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 file photo, the Kerch Bridge spans the opening for the passage of ships, near Kerch, Crimea. Russia has urged an international arbitration panel to throw out a case filed by Ukraine linked to mineral and fishing rights in waters around the Crimean Peninsula. Preliminary hearings that started Monday June 10, 2019 in The Hague stem from Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, a move that Ukraine and most of the world view as illegal. (AP Photo, File)

Ukraine has accused Russia of "wholesale violations" of its mineral resources and fishing rights in the Black Sea and other waters bordered by the two countries as Kiev urges international arbitrators to hear a case about alleged Russian breaches of a United Nations maritime treaty.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Olena Zerkal told a five-judge arbitration panel on Tuesday that Russia's objections to the panel's jurisdiction "are without legal merit."

Lawyers representing Moscow urged the arbitration panel Monday to throw out Ukraine's claim for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the dispute is actually about sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and falls outside the terms of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Zerkal says that the arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction to decide any disputes arising from the convention.