Dmitry Medvedev signs document facilitating international Arctic research
© RIA Novosti. Valeriy Melnikov

Dmitry Medvedev signs document facilitating international Arctic research

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has put his signature under a government directive on the signing of an agreement designed to bolster international scientific cooperation in the Arctic.

The document is aimed at facilitating international Arctic research, intensifying contacts between scientists, promoting the exchange of research results, simplifying border crossing and paving the way for the potential joint use of research infrastructure.

Under the agreement, the signatory parties will assist in providing access to land, coastal, atmospheric and sea areas for pre-agreed scientific research in certain geographic regions in which the parties exercise sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction, as well as to high-seas areas outside national jurisdiction north of 62 degrees north latitude.

The agreement was drafted by an ad hoc international target group, which includes Russian representatives in line with the decisions adopted at ministerial meetings of the Arctic Council and formalized in the 2013 Kiruna Declaration and the 2015 Iqaluit Declaration.