Russians give Canada ultimatum due to arrested Ruslan aircraft

The Volga-Dnepr Russian company, the owner of a cargo aircraft An-124-100 arrested in Canada, has given an ultimatum to the Canadian government, suggesting Canada either solve the issue of arrested aircraft peacefully or through the arbitration court.

This document was sent to the Canadian Prime Minister as well as to the Governor General, Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Justice and the Attorney General of Canada.

Source: Russian information agency Interfax

Details: Russians see a peaceful way of solving the issue in the context of the agreement between the USSR and Canada about encouragement and mutual protection of investments.

In the official document that was sent out, Volga-Dnepr informs Canada that it considers the "capturing" of a cargo aircraft An-124-100 illegal and suggests settling the dispute peacefully in accordance with Article 9 of the agreement between the USSR and Canada about encouragement and mutual protection of investments from 20 November 1989.

"If the dispute is not settled within six months from the moment Canada received the message, then the Volga-Dnepr air company will officially initiate an arbitration proceeding," the statement of Volga-Dnepr reads.

Background:

In June, it was revealed that the Canadian government had given an order to arrest the Russian An-124 aircraft. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the plan to hand the aircraft over to Ukraine.

The aircraft landed at the International Airport in Toronto on 27 February 2022. Within a few hours after landing, Canada closed its airspace to Russian planes. The An-124 aircraft will not take off until the lifting of the sanctions.

A similar fate awaited three more An-124 aircraft belonging to the Russian company.

In April 2022, the Sviatoshyn District Court of Kyiv officially arrested all 12 "Ruslan" aircraft belnging to the Volga-Dnepr company.

The reason for the arrest was the fact that in 2018, Volga-Dnepr prolonged the period of use of the aircraft itself, even though, according to international norms, only the manufacturer, State Enterprise Antonov, is authorised to do it. Lawyers of the Antonov enterprise deem the Russian certificate fake.

Besides the court case, Ukraine also highlighted its moral right to receive these aircraft as compensation for the damage caused by the Russians.

It will be simpler to confiscate the "Ruslan" aircraft in Canada. This is the only allied country with Ukraine that has adopted the law about the confiscation of Russian property and handing it over to Ukraine. In the spring, Canada implemented sanctions against the Volga-Dnepr company, and on 10 June, issued an arrest warrant for the aircraft. On the same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the beginning of the confiscation of this asset.  

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