MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The United States’ claims to an extended continental shelf are not grounded in international law, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament, or "senate") Vice Speaker Konstantin Kosachev said.
He pointed out that claims to an extended offshore continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean have become a common trend in the maritime policies of Arctic nations. Such an option is provided under international law to those countries that can prove the natural prolongation of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 miles. The mandate of the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Russia fully complies with the UNCLOS provisions obligating countries to submit their continental shelf claims to the commission. The US, however, effectively "played dirty" in terms of international law when it announced plans to unilaterally extend its continental shelf, Kosachev noted.
"As for the US, it still has not ratified the UNCLOS and in a certain sense, it is a rogue state among the maritime powers who are parties to the convention," the politician wrote on Telegram. "As a result, today, the Americans are acting without any basis in international law, which means that the international community has every right not to recognize the new boundaries," he said.
According to the senator, the US "outdid itself" this time, disregarding even the interests of its allies in the Arctic. Now, the country has territorial disputes over continental shelf delimitation with Canada and Japan.
Kosachev added that Russia had received positive recommendations from the UN commission with regard to the extension of its Arctic continental shelf in February 2023.
Bloomberg reported earlier that the US had unilaterally announced its extended continental shelf claims in the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. According to the news outlet, the administration of US President Joe Biden "extended its claims on the ocean floor by an area twice the size of California." This refers to a statement by the US Department of State, which contained a new extended map of the continental shelf over which Washington is claiming jurisdiction.