OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2010. Recognising our mutual determination to strengthen our good neighbourly relations, secure stability and enhance cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, we are pleased to announce that our negotiating delegations have reached preliminary agreement on the bilateral maritime delimitation between our two countries in these areas, which has been the object of extensive negotiations over the years.

As stated in the Ilulissat Declaration of the coastal States around the Arctic Ocean of 28 May 2008, both Norway and the Russian Federation are committed to the extensive legal framework applicable to the Arctic Ocean, as well as to the orderly settlement of any possible overlapping claims.

The negotiations have covered all the relevant issues concerning the maritime delimitation. The two delegations recommend, in addition to a maritime delimitation line, the adoption of treaty provisions that would maintain and enhance cooperation with regard to fisheries and management of hydrocarbon resources. A comprehensive Treaty concerning maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean is thus envisaged. Such a Treaty shall not prejudice rights and obligations under other international treaties to which both the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Norway are parties.

The two delegations recommend a delimitation line on the basis of international law in order to achieve an equitable solution. In addition to the relevant factors identified in this regard in international law, including the effect of major disparities in respective coastal lengths, they have taken into account the progress achieved in the course of long-standing negotiations between the parties in order to reach agreement. They recommend a line that divides the overall disputed area in two parts of approximately the same size.

Bearing in mind the developments in the Arctic Ocean and the role of our two States in this region, they highlight the bilateral cooperation with regard to the determination of the outer limits of the continental shelf, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In the field of fisheries, the two delegations underline the special economic importance of the living resources of the Barents Sea to Norway and the Russian Federation and to their coastal communities. The need to avoid any economic dislocation of coastal regions whose inhabitants have habitually fished in the area is stressed. Moreover, the traditional Russian and Norwegian fisheries in the Barents Sea are highlighted. They recall the primary interest and responsibility of the Russian Federation and Norway, as coastal States, for the conservation and rational management of the living resources of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, in accordance with international law. The conclusion of a Treaty on maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean shall therefore not adversely affect the fishing opportunities of either State. To this end, provisions to the effect of continued close cooperation of the two States in the sphere of fisheries and preservation of relative stability of their fishing activities are recommended. The same applies to provisions concerning continued cooperation in the Norwegian-Russian Joint Fisheries Commission, as well as necessary transitional arrangements.

In the field of hydrocarbon cooperation, the two delegations recommend the adoption of detailed rules and procedures ensuring efficient and responsible management of their hydrocarbon resources in cases where any single oil or gas deposit should extend across the delimitation line.

Recalling our common desire to complete the maritime delimitation, we express our firm intention to take, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of each State, all necessary measures to conclude a Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean at the earliest possible date.