Russia pulls in the Arctic belt

 
The Russian Defense Ministry stated at the beginning of the year that in the coming years one of its priorities will be the development of military infrastructure in the Arctic region. The Arctic shelf contains a lot of mineral resources. The problem is that certain borders of the territories became disputable and many countries claim the Arctic region. Along with Russia, there are the USA, Canada, and even China.

Nicholas Fedoryak, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, is sure that “if we do not take swift action in order to deploy the necessary troops to protect our national security in the Arctic we will just be late. Now the possibility of the United States using precision weapons is much higher than in the 1970s and the 1980s, and we will inevitably need to rebuild that infrastructure, and, I would say not only recover it, but to raise it to a higher level, so that we can protect our national interests.

Alexander Sharavin, Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, says that now even those bases that existed in Soviet times have fallen into disrepair, and we often have to operate from scratch. As for us needing troops there, Sharavin noted: “The specifics of military operations in the Arctic indicate that it's impossible to use large units. Basically, if there are any problems, they will be dealt with by the aviation fleet and special units, but I hope that this, in principle, would not be the case. We create order and military infrastructure in case someone wishes to influence us by force. In principle, there is a normal process, and I think we are perfectly rationally participating in it, and we want to protect our interests. If it is possible to produce hydrocarbons, we will produce them. If it is possible to assist our ships through the Northwest Passage, and not only our ships, but also foreign ones, we will assist in this.”

Andrei Zagorski, head of the Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Center for International Security of the Russian Academy of Sciences and expert of the Russian International Affairs Council, believes that the probability of armed conflict in the Arctic is minimal, and all the arguments on military security issues must be seen in a much broader context: “These are problems connected with the restoration of border controls, with the creation of the Coast Guard, they are associated with the establishment of rescue centers, and even militarily issues fit into this multifunctional image, because the airports being restored in the Arctic are of dual purpose, as we say, they are a part of the strategic infrastructure that can be used and will be used for other purposes, by the Ministry for Emergency Situations, by the border guards, and by others. But the main part of ensuring the national security interests of Russia in the Arctic is not military-strategic issues, but very different issues that relate to safety of navigation, to the response on emergency cases, the probability of which increases with the expansion of economic activities.”

Sergei Grinyaev, CEO of the Center for Strategic Assessment and Projections, thinks that the Arctic today “is the only region in the world in which problems are solved through bilateral and multilateral agreements. Moreover, speaking about the fabulous wealth of the region is, if not problematic, then something to be done with caution. And those fields that have already been explored are located in the climate zones of circumpolar states and a debate on them now is not arising. In fact, today there are two geopolitical players in the Arctic: Russia and the United States. Even such a political center as the European Union, at the last meeting of the Arctic Council's leadership was not given access to the Council even as an observer. And, interestingly, EU membership as an observer was blocked on Canada's initiative. We also observe that such an Asian geopolitical center as China, which sought to get to the Arctic, was accepted only as an observer. That is, in this case we can see a clear coherent policy of the
Arctic states, aimed at the opportunity and desire to peacefully negotiate among themselves on the problems that arise in the Arctic.”

Konstantin Sivkov, vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, states that interest in the Arctic is well founded: “Considerable resources have been found in the Arctic. But do not forget that all the other resources of planet Earth are already divided, but these resources in the Arctic may still be debated over, and these debates continue. Secondly, nodules that lie at the ocean bottom contain a lot of valuable materials, including rare earth. Thirdly, we must not forget the Arctic's biological resources, which are also unique.”

According to Sivkov, the Arctic’s main advantage is communication: “Southeast Asia is rising, and the shortest communication path is needed. The shortest and cheapest communication path is the Arctic. All other paths are much longer. Our railway communication is certainly good, it has a certain bandwidth, but it is not sufficient to provide communication between the EU and Southeast Asia.”