International law ‘effectively dead’, says Kremlin aide

Kremlin aide claims international law is "effectively dead," urging a P-5 summit to address global security amid rising tensions.

Russia has said international law is effectively dead amid escalating tensions in West Asia following the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran and called for reviving President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to convene a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the current global situation underscores the need to revisit Mr. Putin’s proposal, first made before the COVID-19 pandemic, for a summit of the P-5 — Russia, the U.S., China, France and the U.K. — to discuss global security and stability.

“We have all lost what we call international law... I don’t even understand how anyone can be called upon to follow the norms and principles of international law. It effectively no longer exists,” Mr. Peskov said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya TV.

He said international law exists “de jure” (by law) but no longer “de facto” (in fact).

“We cannot tell anyone to follow international law, follow which law? Nobody can formulate today what it is,” he said.