Russia set to convince UN of correct Arctic-shelf boundaries – diplomat

Russia’s efforts to defend its version of Arctic continental-shelf boundaries at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) will be successful, and the process will not give rise to conflicts with any other countries, said Ambassador at Large Anton Vasilyev of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“I would like to note that this process of delineating the continental shelf’s external boundaries is entirely realistic and I am confident that this process will be crowned with success,” the Russian diplomat told a RIA Novosti news conference about the international forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” on Monday.

Vasilyev, who also chairs the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and is Russia’s representative in the Arctic Council, mentioned a positive precedent, namely, Norway’s successful efforts to define its shelf boundaries at the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

Vasilyev said Russia had submitted its claim setting out the continental shelf’s external boundaries to the UN in 2001, and that it was the first state to do so.

However, the UN commission “ruled that Russia’s arguments were insufficient, and we are now moving to collect additional support for our case in order to substantiate our 2001 claim,” Vasilyev said.

He explained that, under Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Russia has to prove that the planned boundaries are based on the relevant continental-shelf boundaries, and that this seabed sector is, in fact, the continental shelf and a geological extension of the mainland.

“All this requires an extremely expensive and hi-tech operation to gather a tremendous amount of additional data, analyse and substantiate it, and then finally the submission of these arguments and supporting evidence to the commission,” Vasilyev said. “That’s why I’m in no position to mention any deadlines.”

He stressed that there would be no conflict or clash of interests over the Russian claim.

“Those talking about a possible clash of interests on claims made to continental-shelf borders or conflicts, and so forth either don’t understand the subject or are driven by other covert interests,” the diplomat noted.

Rights to the Arctic continental shelf, which is allegedly rich in oil and gas deposits, began to be actively discussed after Russia’s deep-sea expedition in 2007. At that time, the Mir-1 and Mir-2 submersibles reached the seabed below the North Pole, placed a capsule containing the Russian flag there and scooped up ground and marine-life samples from a depth of 4,261 meters.

If Russia proves that the Arctic’s underwater Lomonosov and Mendeleyev mountain ranges are a geological extension of its continental shelf, then it would gain the right to control an additional 1.2 million square kilometers of Arctic territory and to develop immense oil and gas deposits in the Chukchi Peninsula-Murmansk-North Pole sector.