Russia summons Norwegian diplomat over research vessel seizure

Russia summoned Norway's charge d'affaires in Moscow on Tuesday to protest court-ordered seizures of Russian property, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, Anadolu Agency reported.

The ministry summoned Bjorn Svenungsen, who is Norway's charge d'affaires in Moscow, and formally objected to the continued seizures, which it said were carried out at the request of Ukrainian companies.

The ministry said the research vessel Professor Molchanov remains held at the port of Barentsburg on Svalbard after a Norwegian court seized it on Sept. 2 at the request of Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz and several other Ukrainian firms.

A district court in North Troms and Senja rejected an appeal from the Russian state-owned Arktikugol Trust on Oct, the ministry said.

28, and further legal proceedings could take many months.

The ministry warned that keeping a vessel not built for Arctic conditions in the region through the winter could damage the ship and cause serious environmental harm.

It said the detention had sharply limited access to the archipelago, and that the Professor Molchanov had become Russia's only direct way to move personnel and essential supplies there after Norwegian restrictions halted air links between Russia and Svalbard.

The ministry also said a Norwegian court seized five Russian properties in Oslo on Sept. 22, and it urged Norway to respect international law, including the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property.

Russia's Foreign Ministry and other competent agencies will keep working to have the seizures lifted, the ministry said.

Russia's consul general in Svalbard is giving consular and other help to the crew members still aboard the vessel, the ministry added.

The 1920 Svalbard Treaty gives citizens of signatory states the right to access the archipelago, which Norway administers.