The Foreign Ministry explained why Russia abstained from participating in the UN court session

View of the International Court of Justice in The HagueMOSCOW, March 9The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Russia refrained from participating in the meeting of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, initiated by Ukraine, due to the obvious absurdity of Kyiv's claim, and also because Moscow was not given enough time to form a response position. The Hague on Monday began hearings on the lawsuit of Ukraine, which requires the adoption of «temporary measures» to stop the Russian military operation. The Russian delegation was not present at the opening of the meeting in The Hague; during the live broadcast, empty seats intended for Russian representatives were shown. As the chairman of the court said at the beginning of the hearing, «by a letter dated March 5, 2022, Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands Alexander Shulgin notified that the Russian authorities did not intend to participate in oral proceedings.» She added that the court regretted Russia's non-participation.Kyiv calls for an urgent meeting of the International Court of Justice against Russia «In view of the obvious absurdity of the Ukrainian claim, the obvious insufficiency of the time allotted for Russia to form a response position, and also for reasons, including security, it was decided to refrain from participating in this court session,» she said at the briefing, adding that the Russian embassy in the Netherlands sent a letter explaining its position and requesting that the case be removed from the court list. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But there is no talk of the occupation of Ukraine, the President of Russia stressed.