MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russia has issued a demarche to the United States over Washington's illegal attempts to unilaterally change the outer boundaries of the continental shelf in seven areas of the World Ocean, the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry recalled that from March 18 to 29, Kingston (Jamaica) is hosting a session of the International Seabed Authority, which, in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, is supposed to regulate the activities of states in the deep seabed in areas not subject to the national jurisdiction of coastal countries.
"During the [International Seabed Authority] session, the Russian delegation declared that it did not recognize the external boundaries of the continental shelf unilaterally declared by the US in December 2023 to be beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured, in seven areas of the World Ocean," the ministry said in a statement. "Earlier, a corresponding demarche was sent to the US side through bilateral channels," the Russian diplomats added.
The ministry explained that the US is trying to unilaterally reduce the area of the seabed under the jurisdiction of the entire world community and acquire additional shelf areas for its own use. "The unilateral steps of the US do not comply with the rules and procedures established by international law," the ministry said. "The Russian delegation has criticized the selective approach of the US, which uses the norms of international law at liberty, completely disregarding its obligations, and rejected this latest attempt by Washington to use the norms of the 1982 Convention solely to serve its own interests," the diplomats said.