After almost 40 years of talks, Russia and Norway reached on Tuesday an agreement on the demarcation of their maritime borders in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.
The announcement came during a joint news conference which followed talks between Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Oslo.
"Our meeting, which has just finished, resulted in the agreement between our countries concerning the demarcation line in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean," the Norwegian prime minister said, adding: "This is very important."
The Arctic territories, believed to hold vast untapped oil and gas reserves, have increasingly been at the center of disputes between Russia and Norway, as well as the United States, Canada and Denmark as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice.
Under international law, the five Arctic Circle countries each have a 322-kilometer (200-mile) economic zone in the Arctic Ocean. An area of 175,000 square kilometers has been the issue of the dispute between Norway and Russia.
OSLO, April 27 (RIA Novosti)
