Russia urges to introduce tougher Arctic security sanctions

Russia and other Arctic littoral states should boost security on their Arctic frontiers, as rapid pack-ice loss is making the region more accessible to maritime traffic, RIA-Novosti reports quoting a Russian security official.
According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center, in late 2012 the area covered by Arctic ice shrank to its lowest since 1979. The average area of Arctic sea ice for December 2012 was 12.20 million square km, the second-lowest ever recorded by satellite.
“Climate change has increased the transport accessibility of the Arctic region. However, growing maritime traffic is likely to bring about more attempts at smuggling, illegal migration, drug trafficking… and other types of organized crime… That’s why Russia needs to cooperate with other Arctic states in strengthening and defending its Arctic borders and in monitoring transportation routes ,” RIA-Novosti quotes Yevgeny Lukyanov, a deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council as saying at an international Arctic states conference in Norway’s Tromso.