Norway transports Russian containers to Svalbard

The Norwegian authorities approved the transportation of the Russian containers to the mining town of Barentsburg on the island of Svalbard. The containers will be delivered by a Norwegian shipping company, NRK TV channel said with reference to the statement of the official representative of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Anne Haavardsdatter Lunde.

"Two containers of supplies for Barentsburg are now on their way on a Norwegian ship from Tromsø to Longyearbyen," the spokeswoman said. According to her, the Norwegian authorities did not intend to stop the supplies to the remote island, but because of the sanctions, Russian ships could not enter the port of Svalbard.

The Norwegian authorities previously informed the population of the island that all the supplies for residents of the remote territory would be delivered without difficulty.

On June 28, Norway refused to let cargo for the Russian mining village of Barentsburg on Svalbard to pass through the Storskog checkpoint on the border of the countries. Oslo rejected Moscow's request to exempt the cargo from sanctions.

After that, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin instructed to discuss the issue of denouncing the treaty between Russia and Norway on the delimitation of maritime spaces. However, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the treaty could not be denounced by Norway, as it was a permanent treaty.