by the 13th century, a need to formalize the border between the novgorod republic and the scandinavian countries became evident. the novgorodians, along with the karelians who came from the south, reached the coast of what now is pechengsky district and the portion of the coast of varangerfjord near the jacob's river, which now is a part of norway. the sami population was forced to pay tribute. the norwegians, however, were also attempting to take control of these lands, resulting in armed conflicts. in 1251, a conflict between the karelians, novgorodians and the servants of the king of norway led to the establishment of a novgorodian mission in norway. also in 1251, the first treaty with norway was signed in novgorod regarding the sami lands and the system of tribute collections, making the sami people pay tribute to both novgorod and norway. by the terms of the treaty, novgorodians could collect tribute from the sami as far as lyngen fjord in the west, while norwegians could collect tribute on the territory of the whole kola peninsula except in the eastern part of tersky coast. no state borders were established by the 1251 treaty.