The International Court of Justice [official cite] on Wednesday rejected [document, PDF] Ukraine’s request for measures to prevent rebels in the country from receiving supplies over its Russian boarder. The court granted measures designed to protect ethnic discrimination in the disputed Crimean peninsula, currently under Russian rule, but did not grant Ukraine’s request to prevent the funding of terrorism by implementing a number of regulations. The request sought to force the Russian state to identify potential terrorist funders by requiring banks to report suspicious activity, by monitoring cross-boarder transportation of funds, and verifying information by establishing channels of communication between analogous state agencies in Ukraine and Russia. However, the order does require Russia to ensure the teaching of the Ukrainian language in Crimea. The denial of provisional measures means there will not be a decision on the issue until the large case is resolved.

The situation involving Russia and Ukraine has been a source of conflict since Russia’s annexation of Crimea [Reuters backgrounder] in March 2014. In late March, the European Court of Justice upheld [JURIST report] economic sanctions against Russia for the annexation. Before that, in January the General Court [official website] of the EU upheld [JURIST report] the 2014 sanctions [press release] against Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey [corporate website]. Earlier in January Ukraine filed suit against Russia in the International Court of Justice for alleged acts of terrorism and discrimination. The case has been filed for violations of various international conventions [JURIST report]. In December the Amsterdam District Court ruled [JURIST report] that Crimean gold artifacts are to be returned to Ukraine and not Crimea. The artifacts, including gems, helmets and scabbards, were on loan to Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson Museum when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.