The Russian State Duma today ratified the Treaty on the Delimitation of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean with a majority of 311 against 57 votes.
The Communist Party opposes the deal, arguing that it will not be in Russian national interests. However, also the Liberal Democratic Party and the A Just Russia Party were uncomfortable with the document and did not vote, RIA Novosti reports.
Read also: Duma ratifies delimitation deal
Talking in today’s Duma session, Communist Party deputy Leonid Kalashnikov said the treaty with Norway will not only hamper Russian fishing rights in the waters around the Svalbard archipelago but also “put a cross on the Shtokman field”.
The politician maintains that “the Norwegians have got very many small fields located next to the Shtokman field”. –They will develop these fields, and the Shtokman project can be laid dead, Kalashnikov argues.
Commenting on the accusations from the Communist politician, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Titov stressed that the agreement will not affect fisheries in the region, nor positions over the Spitsbergen archipelago. He called the treaty “a big event” in the good-neighborly relations between Russia and Norway and a “just decision”, which will allow Russia to secure its legitimate rights and privileges in the region.
The border delineation deal signed in Murmansk last September divides the formerly disputed waters into two equally big parts.
