Norway says it has settled a dispute with Russia over a freight delivery for Russian miners in the Spitsbergen archipelago. The Foreign Ministry in Oslo announced on Wednesday that the containers with Russian cargo blocked at the border have been taken to the port of Tromsö and are now on their way to the settlement of Barentsburg.
“It was never our intention to block a delivery”, the possible solutions “had existed from the start”, emphasized a ministry spokeswoman, who, however, did not want to hear about a “backtrack” by the Norwegian government. The authorities in the Scandinavian country had previously pointed to the sanctions that are now in place against Russia. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt stated at the time that the sanctions barred Russian freight traffic from entering Norwegian territory. Norway, however, respects a more than 100-year-old agreement for Svalbard.
Moscow threatened with countermeasures
Russia then threatened to take countermeasures and the Norwegian chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow. The leader of the Russian lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, called on Tuesday for the cancellation of a maritime border agreement with Norway.
The Spitsbergen Archipelago is part of Norway. However, an international treaty signed in Paris in 1920 gives a number of countries, including Russia, the right to mine raw materials there. Russia and before that the Soviet Union have been mining coal there for decades.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
