The Russian parliament is considering ending a border agreement in the dispute with Norway over a delivery blockade to Spitsbergen. The Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee will examine this and inform deputies, Speaker of the Lower House Vyacheslav Volodin told the parliament’s website on Tuesday. Russia and Norway are two important players in the Arctic region with their wealth of raw materials.
The two countries defined their maritime boundaries in the Barents Sea in the 2010 agreement, ending a 40-year dispute. The deal was seen at the time as a fresh start in Moscow-Oslo relations. Since then, however, tensions have increased, mainly because of Moscow’s Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
“No Review Clause”
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Russia to abide by the agreement. It contains “no review clause”, the ministry said. “It’s common for these types of border agreements to be undefined.”
Russia last week accused Norway of blocking the loading of a ship destined for Russian miners off Svalbard, citing EU sanctions. The Spitsbergen archipelago is part of Norway. However, an international treaty concluded in Paris in 1920 grants several countries, including Russia, the right to extract raw materials there. Russia and before that the Soviet Union have been mining coal there for decades.