Russia intends to renegotiate the terms of the Soviet-American agreement defining the status and boundaries of the Bering Strait, which could lead to a new round of tension in relations with the United States. This was stated by a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Roza Chemeris, during a plenary session, emphasizing that Russia is considering the possibility of denouncing the 1990 Shevardnadze-Baker Agreement.

This agreement, concluded between the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Eduard Shevardnadze and the US Secretary of State James Baker, provided for the delimitation of maritime space in the Bering Strait area, as a result of which the United States gained access to significant water resources that previously belonged to the USSR. We are talking about approximately 30 thousand square kilometers of exclusive economic zone and more than 40 thousand square kilometers of shelf.

Chemeris' statement is confirmed by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Maxim Uvaidov, which gives it additional weight and seriousness. The denunciation of the agreement could have far-reaching consequences not only for bilateral relations between Russia and the United States, but also for international maritime law in general.

This move by Russia could be interpreted as an attempt to strengthen its strategic position in the Arctic and North Pacific, as well as a desire to reconsider the results of international agreements concluded in the post-Cold War period.