Ukraine files defence in $3 billion Russia Eurobond case

A Ukrainian national flag flies over the parliament building (Verkhovna Rada) in central Kiev, Ukraine, March 5, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine filed its defence on Friday with a British court over a $3 billion (2 billion pounds) debt to Russia, arguing that the original loan agreement with its neighbour and former ally was invalid, the Foreign Ministry and Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The lawsuit has become yet another bone of contention between the two countries, whose relations are at an all-time low following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and a costly pro-Russian separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.