Arctic claimants say they will obey U.N. rules

"The declaration reflects the will of all participants to resolve all issues which might evolve in the spirit of cooperation and on the basis of international law," said Lavrov.

Russia last summer angered the other Arctic nations by planting a flag on the seabed under the North Pole, an incident Lavrov dismissed as insignificant on Wednesday.

CRITICISM

Environmental groups were not invited and have criticized the scramble for the Arctic, saying it will damage unique animal habitats. They call for a treaty similar to that regulating the Antarctic, which bans military activity and mineral mining.

"It is insane to view the crisis of the melting of the Arctic ice simply as an opportunity to carve up the resources that are currently protected under the ice," Greenpeace Nordic campaigner, Lindsay Keenan, told Reuters.

Greenpeace said the world already had four times more fossil fuel reserves than it could afford to burn.

"They are going to use the law of the sea to carve up the raw materials, but they are ignoring the law of common sense. These are the same fossil fuels that are driving climate change in the first place," Keenan said.

The five nations agreed however that no special Arctic treaty was necessary, saying in the declaration there was no need to develop a new international legal regime.

The talks also focused on the effects of climate change felt by people of the Arctic, and covered cooperation over accidents, maritime security and oil spills.