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Conflict fears allayed on Arctic border demarcation

"I believe that the Arctic region should be a region of development and co-operation rather than rivalry," President of Russian Council on International Relations Igor Ivanov said

MOSCOW, November 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Strained relations between states fronting Arctic territory when marking the region's borders have eased, experts told a Moscow news briefing on prospects for co-operation in the icy wastes.

Fears of conflict have subsided, President of Russian Council on International Relations Igor Ivanov told journalists, adding that tension had declined because “Arctic states have been actively co-operating and adopting concrete international norms for that co-operation”.

“I believe that the Arctic region should be a region of development and co-operation rather than rivalry, which meets both Russia's interests and the interests of other states in that region,” Ivanov said.

“Before an active stage in developing Arctic resources begins, it is important to develop international legislative norms for settling problems which might arise,” he added.

“The battle for Arctic land was never fought,” noted Andrei Zagorsky, a senior expert at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO).

“Fears of possible conflict which might have developed because of unsettled juridical disputes between Arctic states have not been confirmed,” the IMEMO expert declared.

A broad international legislative basis existed to resolve Arctic disputes, Zagorsky said. “Almost no disputes over the delimitation of maritime space are left. In most cases, they have been resolved,” he added.