On July 27, the 31st session of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (IAFM) opened in Kingston, Jamaica.
A Russian interdepartmental delegation, composed of representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Russian Embassy in Jamaica, participates in its work.
The head of the Russian delegation, Dmitry Tetenkin, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, gave a welcome speech to the participants.
In his speech, he stressed the major importance of the activities of the MFA as an essential mechanism for the implementation of the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning the regulation of the development of the Area’s resources.
The Russian delegation took this opportunity to recall Russia’s position on the decree on deep-seabed mining taken in April 2025 by the President of the United States: unilateral steps to exploit the deep seabed undermine the Zone regime established by the 1982 Convention as well as the mandate of the AIFM and pose a threat to the economic and social progress of all countries, primarily developing countries.
The Russian delegation also reaffirmed that the Russian Federation did not recognize the external limits of the « extended » continental shelf unilaterally established by Washington in 2023, this approach was not in accordance with established international practice and the applicable procedures not having been respected. It again called on the United States to become a party to the 1982 Convention.
It called on all states, including the United States, to refrain from unilateral action and not to allow the establishment of parallel mechanisms likely to undermine the objectives of the 1982 Convention on the orderly, safe and rational use of the resources of the Zone in the interests of all humanity.
The Assembly will complete its work on July 31. During this session, the delegates will have to approve the AIFM’s budget for the next two-year financial year, discuss the conduct of the periodic review of the International Regime of the Zone in accordance with Article 154 of the 1982 Convention and examine a proposal to refer to the International Tribunal for the Settlement of Disputes on the Seabed of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea within-Se with a request for an advisory opinion on the legal aspects of activities carried out in the Zone by States not Parties to the 1982 Convention. This last question concerns in particular the aforementioned decree of the President of the United States.
