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Moscow has ‘no official position yet’ on possible denunciation of treaty with Norway

According to Dmitry Peskov, all possible scenarios are being considered, because the situation is very complicated

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. Russia has yet to formulate its official position on the potential denunciation of its treaty with Norway on maritime border delimitation and cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, with various scenarios now being considered, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"There is no official position yet," Peskov said when asked by a TASS reporter whether the Kremlin was in favor of scrapping the agreement in question.

"As far as we understand, the parliament is discussing looking at the issue," he added. "Clearly, all possible scenarios are being considered, because the situation is very complicated."

The presidential spokesman also said the issue of cargo deliveries to Spitsbergen would hopefully be resolved through dialogue.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday instructed the lower house’s international affairs committee to consider scrapping the treaty.

On June 29, Norway’s Charge d’Affaires in Russia Solveig Rossebo was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was told that the embargo on the delivery of cargos to Spitsbergen designated for the Arktikugol federal state unitary enterprise on the archipelago was unacceptable.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow expects a prompt reply from Oslo to an official request over the situation around Spitsbergen that was submitted soon after the incident had taken place.