Guardian: Russia and Norway today ended a bitter 40-year dispute over their maritime borders and signed a treaty that will allow for new oil and gas exploration in the Arctic region. The agreement lays to rest a long-running Soviet-era row over the Barents Sea. Both countries claimed a 175,000 sq km (67,567 sq mile) zone, about half the size of Germany, situated north of Russia’s Kola Peninsula and the Norwegian coast. The treaty divides the disputed area equally between the two …