🌍In light of the ongoing (July 27-31, 2026) 31st Session of the International Seabed Authority Assembly (Kingston, Jamaica), the Russian Foreign Ministry notes the following dangerous repercussions of the recent US actions concerning deep-seabed mining of mineral resources.
🖊️On April 24, 2025 the U.S. President issued an Executive Order on deep-seabed mining of mineral resources, which addresses issues of exploration and development of seabed mineral resources within the United States outer continental shelf as well as in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
◻️The Executive Order has already received negative assessments from a number of States (including Western countries) and international organisations at various international platforms.
◻️Serious concern was expressed over the consequences of such a step for the regime of the international seabed area and the activites of the International Seabed Authority.
💬In particular, ISA Secretary-General Ms. Leticia Reis de Carvalho noted that any such unilateral action sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the existing system of global ocean governance, and that no state may claim, acquire, or exercise rights over mineral resources of the Area, which are the Common Heritage of Humankind, otherwise than in accordance with Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.
◻️The principle of the common heritage of mankind currently governs all activities in the Area. Unilateral steps toward deep seabed mineral resources development undermine the regime of the Area established by the 1982 Convention, as well as ISA mandate, and also threaten economic and social progress of all States, primarily that of developing countries.
◻️The Executive Order also addresses issues of resources extraction within the US ‘extended’ continental shelf. Russia has not recognised the outer boundaries of the ‘extended’ shelf unilaterally delineated by Washington in 2023, due to this step’s inconsistency with established international practice and non-compliance with relevant procedures. We consider any possible unilateral seabed development by the USA within these boundaries inadmissible.
🇷🇺The Russian Federation reacted to the issuance of the Executive Order with a statement made at 30th Session of the ISA Assembly (July 2025) containing the above mentioned assessment. We called on the USA to become Party to the 1982 Convention in order to comply fully with its provisions and procedures.
☝️We furthermore called on all nations including the USA to refrain from unilateral actions and avoid creating parallel mechanisms, which could harm the 1982 Convention’s goals of orderly, safe, and rational use of the Area's resources for the benefit of mankind as a whole.
📆This position has been reaffirmed by the Russian delegation at the 36th Meeting of States Parties to the UNCLOS in June 2026.
