Russia and Norway tackle Arctic sea border issue

OSLO (Reuters) – Russia and Norway meet on Monday and Tuesday in the hope of making progress in a decades-old dispute over their maritime border in the Barents Sea — a part of the Arctic that could hold large oil and gas reserves.

Officials have said the Barents Sea could become an important new source of petroleum to supply Europe, but development has been hindered by the dispute.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying: “I am convinced that we will make progress in the negotiations” by the website BarentsObserver.com ahead of the talks with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Stoere.

But Norway said it had seen no sign of progress.

“Of course when ministers meet in that part of the world it (the border dispute) is a natural part of the agenda,” a spokeswoman for the Norwegian foreign ministry said. “It is difficult to predict how the negotiations will proceed.”

Reuters