Russia wants to declare the Sea of Azov internal waters

The Russian State Duma is going to consider the proposed draft law, according to which the Sea of Azov should be considered internal waters of Russia.

This initiative is designed to create conditions for the recognition of the annexation of the occupied Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, write the “Institute for the Study of War”.

The text of the legislative initiative submitted by Russian parliamentarian Mykhailo Sheremet states that the Sea of Azov should become internal waters of the Russian Federation by the end of 2023.

In 2003 and 2004, Russia and Ukraine signed and ratified an agreement in which there is a provision that the Sea of Azov is the internal waters of both Russia and Ukraine, and that vessels under the Ukrainian or Russian flag are granted freedom of navigation in the Sea of Azov .

The Verkhovna Rada denounced the treaty in February 2023, saying that Russia had violated the provision that all issues regarding the Sea of Azov should be resolved peacefully within the framework of bilateral agreements. It was stated that allowing Russian warships to move freely by sea poses a threat to Ukraine’s national security.

In turn, in June 2023, Russian President Putin signed a law denouncing the aforementioned agreement. It was claimed that Ukraine allegedly lost its status as a coastal state of the Sea of Azov after the Russian Federation partially annexed Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in 2022.

The new Russian draft law is likely to provide for a number of administrative measures that will be required for sea transportation to and from the Sea of Azov for the formal recognition of the sea as an internal water space of the Russian Federation.