KIRUNA, May 15 (RIA Novosti)
-
– Foreign ministers from the Arctic
Council’s member states have signed a legally binding agreement on
preventing and responding to oil spills in the Arctic to protect the
region’s waters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on
Wednesday.
The treaty is “an effective tool protecting the Arctic environment at
a time of active exploration of the opening Arctic deposits, and shows
the firm responsibility of the Arctic states for the situation in the
region,” Lavrov said at the opening of the council’s ministerial session
in Sweden’s northernmost city of Kiruna.
Lavrov said he “welcomed” the decision to expand the council by
granting the so-called observer status to new states. China, Italy and
four other Asian countries - India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore -
gained observer status on the Council at a meeting on Wednesday. The
Council also said it “positively” viewed the idea of granting the
European Union observer status. However, a decision on the EU status has
been deferred because of Canada’s concern over an EU ban on import of
seal products, which came into effect in August.
