Sergey Donskoy, the Russian minister of natural resources, has suggested that the countries reach a delimitation agreement. He explained that Russia had to open up the conversation with Danish officials to discuss how the Arctic shelf should be divided between two countries. Both countries have conflicting claims in the Arctic. Last month in New York, in the headquarters of UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) Russia and Denmark presented their overlapping claims.

An interesting fact is that Denmark has made three claims on areas off the coast of Greenland. Representatives of the country claim that it should be regarded as the only rightful owner of the North Pole.

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Currently, Denmark wants to redefine her boundaries between Russia and Canada. The area on which Denmark claims is about 20 times bigger than its current territory. The countries bordering with the North Pole have the right to the territory extending over 200 nautical miles from its coast. Bordering countries are Russia, Denmark, Norway, USA, and Canada. The most important for these three countries are oil and natural gas reserves, which are located on the territory of the North Pole and the Arctic. The only country which claims over part of the Arctic Ocean are approved by the UN is Norway.

It is expected that the UN will take at least three years to rule on the claims.

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Read more (The Local) >>