USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement

Coordinates: 65°30′00″N 168°58′37″W / 65.50000°N 168.97694°W / 65.50000; -168.97694
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

65°30′00″N 168°58′37″W / 65.50000°N 168.97694°W / 65.50000; -168.97694

Maritime boundary sketch
Maritime boundary sketch

The Russia–United States maritime boundary was established by the June 1, 1990 USA/USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker.[2]
The 1990 Agreement has been provisionally applied by the two countries since its date of signature. (The Russian Federation is the successor of the USSR with respect to the 1990 Agreement and the agreement to provisionally apply it.) U.S. Department of State, The Outer Limits of the Extended Continental Shelf of the United States of America. Washington 2023, Executive Summary p 19.

In general concept, the 1990 line is based on the 1867 United States – Russia Convention providing for the U.S. purchase of Alaska. From the point, 65° 30' N, 168° 58' 37" W the maritime boundary extends north along the 168° 58' 37" W meridian through the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea into the Arctic Ocean as far as permitted under international law. From the same point southwards, the boundary follows a line specified by maritime geographic positions given in the Agreement.[1]

Dispute

Map of the Agreement line

The need for the maritime boundary arose with the introduction of the 200-mile limit by the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States proposed using the 1867 Alaska line because it understood that to be the likely Soviet position.

Mercator or conformal
. This resulted in about 15,000 square nautical miles (51,000 km2) of disputed area. The 1990 line split the difference between the two lines and introduced several "special areas", which were beyond the 200-mile zone, but in which the sides ceded their rights to the opponent.

Many in Russia have criticized

Edvard Shevardnadze for rushing the deal, ceding Russian fishing rights and other maritime benefits, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently defended the agreement as being in the interest of all parties.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "1990 USSR/USA Maritime Boundary Agreement" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  2. ^ "European press review" Archived 2020-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, September 4, 2002, BBC News (retrieved Sep. 29, 2009)
  3. ^ "Mark B. Feldman Oral History" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. April 28, 2021. p. 96. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-06-06.
  4. ^ Lavrov Stands Firm on Maritime Border Agreements With Norway and the US

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USSR–USA_Maritime_Boundary_Agreement&oldid=1216045378"