The Foreign Ministry called Norway's approach to Russian companies in Svalbard discriminatory

“Recently, the Norwegian authorities have significantly tightened the conditions for the work of Russian organizations in the Spitsbergen archipelago and in its waters,” the statement says.

Zakharova added that the Norwegian authorities are introducing measures that violate the provisions of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty.

“Such a discriminatory approach is categorically unacceptable.

The Russian position with the appropriate argumentation was repeatedly brought to the attention of the Norwegian side through official channels, ”the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Earlier, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, in a conversation with Norwegian Ambassador to Moscow Robert Kvile, said that the Russian side called on the Norwegian side to engage in dialogue to resolve problems with Svalbard.

In October, Zakharova said that the exclusion of the Russian state company Arktikugol from the Svalbard tourism association was a manifestation of Russophobia and provoked hostility in the archipelago.