GENEVA, June 16. /TASS/. Russia intends to fully adhere to all norms of the international law relating to the Northern Sea Route (NSR), President Vladimir Putin told reporters following the results of the Russian-US summit in Geneva on Wednesday.
"I drew the attention of our [American] partners to the fact that we, Russia, intend to fully adhere to these international legal norms. We have never violated anything, we are ready to assist all interested countries and companies in the development of the Northern Sea Route," the head of state said.
Putin recalled that the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which regulates the Northern Sea Route, defines the legal regime of world waters. The head of state noted that Russia has the sovereign right not to let ships enter the internal waters of the Northern Sea Route, but does not abuse this right.
"The state is obliged to provide a peaceful passage across the territorial sea, in particular for warships. Are we against it? We are for it. As for the internal sea, there is a special regime, here we are not obliged to provide anything to anyone," he added.
"If we all, the interested countries, including and above all the countries-members of the Nordic Council, work together to resolve all these issues - there are issues that require additional consideration - I just have no doubt that we will find all solutions, I do not see any single problem we could not solve," Putin concluded.
The Northern Sea Route is the shipping route and the main sea line in the Russian Arctic sector. It stretches along northern coasts of Russia across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Bering seas). The route consolidates European and Far Eastern ports of Russia and navigable river mouths in Siberia in a single transport system. The route length is 5,600 km from the Kara Strait to the Providence Bay.