Moscow, Dec 12

Russia now is not going to dispute sharing of the North Pole with Canada and other countries, Russian government said Wednesday.

"Actual delimitation of the continental shelf in the Northern Ocean is not today's or even tomorrow's issue," Xinhua reported citing Minister for Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoy in a statement.

Earlier this week, Canada revealed its plans to extend its territorial claims in the Arctic to include the North Pole, despite that it currently lacks enough scientific evidence to support the claim.

Ottawa said it needed to do more work to ensure the submission to the UN, which has been put forward last Friday to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), includes the North Pole.

Donskoy said Russia, Canada and Denmark have the common interest of persuading the CLCS of the geological composition of the Northern Ocean's bed.

He admitted that Canada has done significant scientific work which lasted for nearly a decade before submitting its claim to the UN.

Russia, Canada, Denmark, the US and Norway observe 370-km exclusive economic zone in the northern seas. These countries reserve the right to demand expansion of their exclusive zone for additional 200 nautical miles.

For that, each country should demonstrate that the seabed is a natural extension of its continental shelf, according to the UN Convention.

Canada, the US, Norway, Russia and Denmark have been collecting scientific evidence for more than a decade in an effort to increase their territories in the Arctic.

By:IANS