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As well as future cooperation on energy issues, a rather interesting item appeared on the agenda when Dmitry Medvedev met with Norwegian officials this week.
 
Russia would rather like to redraw the maritime borders between the two countries.
 
Under international law, the five Arctic Circle countries each have a 200-mile economic zone in the Arctic Ocean. Russia and Norway have been in talks on the delimitation of their maritime borders in the disputed areas for more than 30 years, and after a meeting in February, the Russian and Norwegian prime ministers described the talks as "productive", suggesting that resolution of the issue would boost energy cooperation between the two countries.
 
One suspects that this means that if Norway bows to Russian demands, the latter will not embark on the tactical undermining of the Norwegian energy sector. That is the usual tone of Russian "negotiations". Russian companies are already heavily involved in a number of energy projects with Norway, along with the French, who are rapidly evolving into the Kremlin's Trojan Horse in the EU.
 
Norway has successfully protected its interests by avoiding membership of the EU - can it do the same against Russia?
 
Lets hope that the Norwegians are not left pining for their own Fjords...