RIPE NCC responds to Ukrainian request to withdraw the right to use IPv4 and IPv6 addresses by all Russian members of the RIPE NCC

RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) – the regional Internet registry for Europe – responded to the request made by the Ukrainian government that the organisation withdraw the right to use IPv4 and IPv6 addresses by all Russian members of the RIPE NCC. In a letter signed by Managing Director Hans Petter Holen, RIPE NCC says that it does not have the mandate to take such actions unilaterally. It further argues that ‘Internet number resource registrations should not be used as a means to enforce political outcomes, and that doing so would have serious implications for the Internet’. Blocking or withdrawing IP resources – RIPE also notes – ‘would be unlikely to have immediate impact on interconnection or traffic in Russia, but it could have unpredictable consequences in terms of harming the global coordination that is necessary for stable Internet operations’. Last, but not least, removing entries from the registry ‘would diminish the ability of Internet operators to identify the source of Internet traffic, and consequently undermine their ability to make effective choices about who they should accept or block traffic from’. 

At the same time, RIPE NCC expressed its commitment to help ensure that its Ukrainian members can continue their operations, even if, for instance, they cannot pay invoices or comply with certain administrative requests.