Russia and Norway Sign Treaty on Maritime Border

Wednesday, Norwegian and Russian Foreign Ministers Jonas Gahr Støre and Sergey Lavrov signed a treaty on the maritime delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, in Murmansk.

President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Jen Stoltenberg both attended the ceremony.

The treaty finally resolves a long-standing issue between Norway and Russia. Since 1970 the two countries have negotiated over the maritime boundary in a territory that covers 175,000 square km (67,600 sq miles), mainly in the Barents Sea between proven petroleum reserves on the Russian and Norwegian sides.

In April, Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an initial agreement on the border, paving the way to open the potentially oil and gas rich region to offshore exploration.

Before the treaty can be enforced it must be approved by the Norweigan Storting and the Russian Duma.