Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin justified...

The Arctic territories, believed to hold vast untapped oil and gas reserves, have been at the center of disputes between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice and make hydrocarbon deposits under the Arctic Ocean increasingly accessible. This has made the extent of the continental shelf a matter of national interest.

"There has been much ado around the Arctic region. You know how the [Russian] flag was erected [on the seabed] and how negatively our neighbors reacted to this. Nobody has ever stopped them from erecting their own flags. Let them do it. But we work under the rules established by the United Nations and in line with international maritime laws," Putin told members of the Russian Geographic Society.

Russia along with other Arctic Council nations will take part in an international conference on the Arctic on April 22-23 in Moscow.

Putin expressed hope that the participants of the conference

Pages: [1] 2 3