Putin plays down talk of battle for Arctic resources

BBC News, 23 September 2010

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has rejected talk of an impending battle for control of the Arctic region's mineral resources.

Mr Putin's speech was much anticipated

He told an international conference in Moscow he was confident the region's resources could be exploited in a spirit of partnership.

Russia believes the UN will recognise its claim to much of the Arctic seabed.

The scramble for resources has been set in motion partly by improved access caused by the melting of polar ice.

Russia, Norway, Canada, Denmark and the US have all laid claims to territory in the region.

"One comes across all sorts of fantastical predictions about a coming battle for the Arctic," Mr Putin told the conference on its closing day.

"We can see clearly that most of these frightening scenarios in the Arctic have no real foundation...

"I am in no doubt whatsoever that the existing problems of the Arctic, including those of the continental shelf, may be resolved in a spirit of partnership, through negotiations, on the basis of existing international legal norms."

Mr Putin's speech was much anticipated given Russia's fast-moving attempts to claim control of a huge swathe of extra territory in the Arctic all the way to the North Pole, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Moscow.