US should withdraw its new claims on the Arctic – zoologist

Washington and other parties must refrain from competing over the area in order to better protect the ocean, Rick Steiner has said

The US should stop trying to unilaterally expand its continental shelf, particularly in the Arctic, University of Alaska zoologist Rick Steiner told RIA Novosti in an interview published on Wednesday. 

His comments came after the administration of US President Joe Biden officially published maps last week that detail an expanded American continental shelf in the Arctic Sea, the Atlantic, the Bering Sea, the Pacific Ocean, two sections in the Gulf of Mexico, and near the Mariana Islands.  

In total, Washington has unilaterally claimed sovereignty of approximately 1 million square kilometers of seabed, with the biggest gains in the Arctic – a region rich in minerals and energy resources. 

The US State Department has insisted that the new borders proposed by Washington will not create territorial disputes with Russia, but will require settlement with Canada and Japan. 

However, Steiner claimed that the US is “walking on thin ice” by making unilateral claims in the Arctic, since it has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Instead of racing for resources in the polar region, the zoologist insisted that all countries should unite to “fully and forever protect the Arctic Ocean” and withdraw their claims to an expanded continental shelf. 

Washington’s refusal to ratify UNCLOS also means there is practically no chance that its proposed new borders will ever be internationally recognized, Chas Freeman, a veteran US diplomat and former US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told RIA. 

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The only solution would be to negotiate an agreement with countries that already have claims over the areas, such as Russia, Canada, and other members of the Arctic Council, according to Freeman. 

“Even if the Americans were not involved in a proxy war with Russia and an economic war with China, getting them to agree to these unilateral actions would be borderline impossible,” the former diplomat said. He also argued it is “difficult to understand” how US claims to an expanded shelf in the Arctic are consistent with its objections to similar claims from countries such as China. 

Moscow, meanwhile, has condemned Washington’s unilateral claims as “unacceptable.” The head of the State Duma Committee on the Arctic, Nikolay Kharitonov, warned that US attempts to expand its territory could increase tensions in the Arctic.