Russia sends demarche to US over continental shelf extension

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — Russia on Monday said it sent a demarche to the US over the country's decision to extend its continental shelf in December 2023.

A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said Washington's "unilateral steps do not comply with the rules and procedures established by international law."

It further underlined that the Russian delegation that participated in a meeting of the Council of the International Seabed Authority criticized the US' "selective approach" in the use of international law.

The delegation also rejected Washington's most recent attempts to use the norms of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea "solely to serve its own interests."

"Earlier, a corresponding demarche was sent to the American side via a bilateral line," the statement added.

On Dec. 19, the US State Department announced that it had released the coordinates defining the country's outer limits of its extended continental shelf, covering approximately 1 million square kilometers (over 290,000 sq nautical miles) spread across seven regions.