The Treaty was signed by Russia and Ukraine in 2003
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the federal law on denunciation of the Treaty on Co-operation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, according to the official website of the Kremlin.
The bill was passed by the State Duma on 1 June 2023 and approved by the Federation Council of Russia on June 7.
The document denounces the Treaty on Co-operation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine signed in Kerch on 24 December 2003 and ratified by the Russian Federation on 22 April 2004.
With the accession of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to the Russian Federation, the coasts of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait are now owned only by the Russian Federation. Ukraine has lost its status of a coastal state in relation to those water areas, hence the need to terminate the treaty between the states.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the same law on 24 February 2023. The law came into force on March 25.