Copenhagen - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday visited Copenhagen for talks with his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moller and to sign a visa agreement.

Moller and Lavrov were later Tuesday heading for Ilulissat, western Greenland, to take part in a two-day meeting of countries bordering the Arctic.

Lavrov said he welcomed that the countries with stakes in the region discussed cooperation, news agency Ritzau said.

Norway, the United States, Canada and Russia along with Denmark and self-governing Greenland were to discuss territorial claims and the impact of global warming as the region gains strategic importance.

The melting of the Arctic polar cap allows for new potential shipping routes and also opens up new areas for exploration of what is believed to be rich finds of oil and gas, but could fuel rivalry.

Moller has said he hopes the countries would agree to abide by "international law" in solving disputes, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The US has, however, not signed the convention from 1982.

Conservation group WWF International expressed doubts if the convention was sufficient, citing the effects of climate change and threats to vulnerable ecosystems in the Arctic.

"We have lost more than one third of the Arctic sea ice since 2005, and face the potential loss of all the ice in summer within 5 years," Neil Hamilton, head of WWF International's Arctic Programme, said, calling for a "new legal mechanism for Arctic governance."

Other topics on the agenda include environmental protection, joint rescue operations and maritime safety.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told news agency NTB before leaving Oslo that it was important that the Arctic states "discuss possible challenges and effects of climate change before they become a reality." (dpa)