Several major international newspapers quoted today the report by the Associated Press "Putin vows to beef up Arctic military presence."
"Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the planet’s undiscovered oil and gas. In 2007, Russia staked a symbolic claim to the Arctic seabed by dropping a canister containing the Russian flag on the ocean floor from a small submarine at the North Pole," the report reads.
The Canadian newspaper National Post published today an article on the subject entitled "Russia steps up Arctic military presence just a day after Canada extends territorial claim all the way to the North Pole."
The newspaper highlights the fact that Putin's intention to increase military presence in the Arctic was announced "just a day after Canada said it will try to extend its territorial claims in the Arctic all the way to the North Pole."
"Russia’s move comes after Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Monday that federal scientists have been told to do additional work following a 10-year exercise in mapping the continental shelf. A formal scientific submission was made to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf last week covering territorial claims in the Atlantic, but the government says the material submitted for the Arctic Ocean is only preliminary. “That’s why we’ve asked our officials and scientists to do additional and necessary work to ensure that a submission for the full extent of the continental shelf in the Arctic includes Canada’s claim to the North Pole,” said Baird. Baird did not dispute published reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped in at the last minute to insist that the North Pole be included in Canada’s claim after the scientific assessment put the boundary just south of the pole," the newspaper article reads.
