The Treaty fully conforms to the norms and principles of current international law and fairness criteria, and takes into account and provides for the legal rights and interests of both sides. It establishes clear limits of Russia and Norway’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction, contemplating further bilateral cooperation in the fishing sector without any deterioration of fishing conditions, and sets out procedures to regulate joint exploitation of transboundary hydrocarbon deposits.
The signing of the Treaty creates positive political and legal conditions for deepening cooperation in these sectors, contributes to integrated development of bilateral cooperation in the North, strengthening relations of good neighbourliness and partnership between Russia and Norway overall.
The Treaty is also important in the context of establishing the outer limits of Russia’s continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
Maritime delimitation between Russia and Norway strengthens legal regulation in the Arctic based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, in addition to creating an atmosphere of peace and cooperation in the region.
In accordance with arrangements reached at the highest level on synchronising the ratification of the Treaty in both countries, the parliament of Norway ratified the Treaty on February 8, 2011.