USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement

Maritime boundary sketch

The Russia–United States maritime boundary was established by the June 1, 1990 USA/USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement (since Russia declared itself to be the successor of the Soviet Union). The United States Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification as early as on September 16, 1991, but it has yet to be approved by the Russian State Duma. This delimitation line is also known as the Baker-Shevardnadze line or Baker-Shevardnadze agreement, after the officials who signed the deal, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union Eduard Shevardnadze and U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. 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. The legality of the Shevardnadze-Baker agreement has been raised in Russia many times, pointing out that the initiators of the agreement did not hold preliminary discussions sufficient to consider this agreement from the point of view of the Government of Russia (USSR).

Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, who held the post of chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR at that time, claimed that neither the Politburo nor the Council of Ministers of the USSR considered him, and he, the head of government, never signed such documents. The staff of the Russian Foreign Ministry refers to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated May 30, 1990 No. 532 "On the delimitation of maritime spaces with the United States", in which the draft Agreement was approved. At the same time, there was no provision in the legislation of the USSR for the temporary entry into force of treaties on territorial division with other states. They are subject to mandatory ratification. Moreover, in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR (paragraph 3, Article 108), the definition of the state border of the USSR was the exclusive responsibility of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.

Shevardnadze gave away 34 thousand square miles of the oil-bearing area in the Bering Sea by a single decision, and then passed it through the Politburo. By the way, Shevardnadze had such a way: to make decisions without regard to anyone, and then make it through Gorbachev. This primarily concerned disarmament issues. And if you consider that he had and still has both personal and business relationships with Baker, then this explains a lot about the history of the Bering Sea. ... The United States ratified the Agreement on September 16, 1991. The issue of ratification of the Agreement by Russia was not raised, primarily due to ambiguous assessments of its economic consequences for fishing in the Bering Sea.

Russian government agencies have repeatedly conducted an examination of this Agreement for its compliance with the norms of international maritime law, the interests of Russia and an assessment of possible consequences in the event of non-ratification. The assessment was as follows.

The agreement does not contradict Russia's interests, except for the loss of the right to conduct marine fishing in the area in the middle part of the Bering Sea.

Based on this, for a number of years the Russian side has been negotiating with the United States in order to conclude a comprehensive agreement on fishing in the northern part of the Bering Sea, which would compensate Russian fishermen for losses from fishing in areas ceded to the United States.

We can say that to date, most of the documents included in this agreement have been agreed upon.

Thus, it would be more correct to speak not about the "dispute about legality", but about the comprehensive consideration of all aspects of the Agreement of June 1, 1990 and their application. ... The United States ratified the Agreement on September 16, 1991. The issue of ratification of the Agreement by Russia was not raised, primarily due to ambiguous assessments of its economic consequences for fishing in the Bering Sea.

Russian government agencies have repeatedly conducted an examination of this Agreement for its compliance with the norms of international maritime law, the interests of Russia and an assessment of possible consequences in the event of non-ratification. The assessment was as follows.

The agreement does not contradict the interests of Russia, except for the loss of the right to conduct marine fishing in the area in the middle part of the Bering Sea.

Based on this, for a number of years the Russian side has been negotiating with the United States in order to conclude a comprehensive agreement on fishing in the northern part of the Bering Sea, which would compensate Russian fishermen for losses from fishing in areas ceded to the United States.

We can say that to date, most of the documents included in this agreement have been agreed upon.

Thus, it would be more correct to speak not about the "dispute about legality", but about the comprehensive consideration of all aspects of the Agreement of June 1, 1990 and their application.

In 1999, the state of Alaska intervened in the dispute. In its resolution HJR-27, the state Parliament questioned the legality of the borders between the United States and Russia, since on June 1, 1990, US Secretary of State James Baker signed the agreement "On Maritime Borders" without the participation of representatives of Alaska in negotiations and without the consent of the state to the terms of the agreement.

The Alaska Parliament believes that "since the U.S. Department of State is currently negotiating with the Russian government to revise the maritime borders in order to withdraw from the American side an additional 40,000 square miles of ocean and seabed, which can yield 300 million pounds of catch without any quid pro quo for the United States <...>, the proposed the treaty must be annulled and new negotiations must be conducted with the participation of the State of Alaska, and the terms of the new agreement relating to the territory, sovereignty or property of the state of Alaska, they must be accepted only with the consent of this state." Alaska also does not agree with the "transfer of Wrangel, Herald, Bennett, Henrietta, Medny, Sivuch and Kalan islands to Russian jurisdiction," although these islands have never been under the jurisdiction of the United States[4].

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. The 1990 delimitation was complicated since neither side could produce the maps used during the original Alaska purchase negotiations. Furthermore, the two sides agreed that the boundary was intended to be a straight line on a map, but they did not agree which map projection was used: 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 Mikhail Gorbachev and 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.

Further reading

• International Boundary Study No. 14 (Revised) – October 1, 1965 U.S. – Russia Convention Line of 1867