After Moscow staked a high-profile claim to potentially-rich seabed under the Arctic Ocean, which caused concern of other northern states, Russia and Canada agreed on Thursday to abide by international law in defining the borders of their continental shelf.
“As far as the scientific substantiation of outside borders of our corresponding continental shelf in the Arctic is concerned, Russia and Canada respect the rights of each other and reiterate their adherence to international law, including the formal and legal procedure envisaged by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Russian and Canadian Prime Ministers Viktor Zubkov and Stephen Harper said a joint statement on Thursday.
Under the UN Convention, a country can claim exclusive economic rights within 200 miles. If a country can prove that its continental shelf extends beyond the 200-mile economic zone, it can claim similar rights over a larger area.
In summer a Russian polar expedition took samples from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole, which it said will determine whether the Lomonosov ridge was a continuation of Russia’s continental platform. If affirmative, the continental shelf may be extended beyond the 200-mile zone.
According to the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the targeted expansion to one million square kilometers of the Arctic Ocean seabed may contain up to 10 billion tons of hydrocarbons, as well as diamonds and metal ores.
Zubkov told reporters Russia was exploring and developing the Arctic shelf according to international law and called on Canada to join the work.
“We have considered the work regarding the shelf of the Arctic Ocean. We are actively engaged in the work in compliance with international law, and the Canadian side too. We call on Canada to be a partner in the work, and the Canadian side agreed with the necessity to build up friendly relations,” he said.