The owner of the Lomonosov Ridge
During his first visit ever to Moscow, the Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon stressed that the disputed Lomonosov Ridge is part of Canadian territory.
-There are territories which belong to us and where our continental shelf is to be extended, for example the Lomonosov Ridge, which is an extension of our territory, the Canadian Foreign Minister said in a presentation made during his visit to Moscow last week.
-We will prove it, Cannon underlined, adding that the country intends to submit a bid the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2013, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.
In an interview with newspaper Izvestia, the foreign minister also stressed that his country will be “very active in questions regarding the protection of its territory.
Cannon came to Moscow after meetings in Oslo. He later proceeded to Finland for talks with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb.
The Canadian statements about the Lomonosov Ridge are hardly well perceived in Moscow. According to Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the words of Minister Harper can be understood as “not friendly”. With his repeated words about his country’s land claims in the region, Cannon violated the charitable atmosphere of the visit, the newspaper writes.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta is also skeptical about Canadian military intensions in the Arctic. Amid repeated confirmations about its good and non-military objectives in the region, Canada has just completed the construction of two new military bases in the area and this summer held a Arctic military rehearsal.
The visit of Lawrence Cannon to Moscow came just one day after Russia and Norway signed a deal on the delimitation of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. It also came just few days ahead of the conference “The Arctic – Territory of Dialogue” – an event which is to be opened by Prime Minister Putin this week.
