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Støre plays down Barents Sea deal

- Our negotiators have been narrowing gaps. Each day, we get one day closer, but this is a long story, Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says, asked by Reuters if a breakthrough in a border deal between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea is imminent.

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Next week, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev is coming to Norway for a two day official state visit. Observers have speculated about a possible announcement of a final deal on the Barents Sea border dispute during the presidential visit.

But Norway’s Foreign Minister plays down the prospects of such deal next week. In today’s interview with Reuters, Støre says there has been a constructive dialogue on this issue, and that the two countries are making progress in the talks to end decades of dispute over the ocean border.

The disputed area in the Barents Sea covers 173,000 square kilometers, believed to hold large amounts of oil and gas.

Read moreDisputed waters on the agenda

President Dmitri Medvedev arrives in Oslo on Monday April 26th and will stay till Tuesday. After Oslo, Medvedev will continue to Denmark.