Ukraine blocks Russia's chairmanship of Black Sea Commission

Ukraine has blocked Russia from chairing the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, according to a statement from the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The chairmanship of the commission was held by a representative from Romania for the past year, but on October 16, during the 44th session, the chairmanship was supposed to be transferred to Russia. This did not happen.

"Even the idea of Russia chairing this commission is absurd. The Ukrainian side believes that the aggressor state, which started a war against Ukraine as a party to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, and due to which it is impossible to implement the convention and the strategic action plan for the Black Sea, cannot chair such an international institution as the Black Sea Commission," said Olena Kramarenko, the First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, during the meeting.

The Black Sea Commission is an intergovernmental organization responsible for implementing the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution. It establishes the legal framework necessary for regional cooperation and activities aimed at reducing pollution and strengthening the protection of the marine environment.

The parties to the convention are all countries with access to the Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Turkiye, Ukraine, and Russia.

On September 23, Ukraine demanded the dismantling of the bridge across the Kerch Strait in the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague.