Vzglyad Russian minister rejects Canada's Arctic claim
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Canadian counterpart, Lawrence Cannon met in Moscow on Thursday to discuss their countries' claims to the Arctic shelf and options for cooperation in the region. Cannon alarmed experts and politicians on Wednesday, ahead of his meeting with Lavrov, by saying that Canada has proof that Russia's claims are invalid. Russia bases its claims to a significant section of the Arctic shelf on the argument that the Lomonosov Ridge, a mountain chain running underneath the Arctic, is an extension of its continental shelf, something Canada categorically refutes. Following Thursday's talks, Lavrov said only the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf can rule on their competing claims. The Russian minister said that the UN commission's role was to consider the various countries' claims to extend their sections of the continental shelf based on research data. "We have submitted our claim, which was considered, after which [the commission] issued its recommendations regarding additional information," Lavrov said. "We are now collecting this information. Everything must be based on verifiable data." The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) stipulates that any coastal state can claim undersea territory 200 nautical miles (322 km) from their shoreline and exploit the natural resources within that zone. Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway have been trying to assert their jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to contain 25% of the Earth's undiscovered oil and gas. They have been running Arctic expeditions to collect evidence in support of their claims. In 2001 Russia was the first to file a claim to extend its Arctic shelf area, but it was returned for lack of evidence. Lavrov said Russia was gathering additional evidence to bolster its next claim, to be submitted in 2011. Canada has until 2013 to submit proof of the validity of its claim to the United Nations http://en.rian.ru/papers/20100917/160623086.html _______________________________________________ News mailing list n...@antic.org-snn http://lists.antic.org/mailman/listinfo/news
