Russia challenges arbitrator's jurisdiction in Ukraine oil dispute

Russia is contesting the jurisdiction of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration in a dispute with Ukraine over oil rights in the Crimea region, the Hague-based court said on Friday.

Ukraine has claimed to the arbitrator that its rights to resources in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov were violated when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and built a bridge between Russia and Crimea over the Kerch Strait.

According to Russia, however, the court should have no say in the case, which started in September 2016, as the dispute mainly concerns Ukraine’s "claim to sovereignty over Crimea".

The court said it would hear Russia's objections and set deadlines for written submissions on whether it had jurisdiction to rule on the case.