Vladimir Putin calls for Arctic claims to be resolved under UN law Russian prime minister: "We should maintain the Arctic as a region for peace and co-operation"

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has dismissed claims that the Arctic is a new strategic battleground Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/AP 
Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has dismissed claims that the Arctic is a new strategic battleground and called on the world's five Arctic powers to resolve their rival territorial claims according to international law.
Speaking at the international arctic forum in Moscow, Putin admitted that the Arctic and its oil riches were the subject of competing "geo-political interests" but said that all claims – including Russia's – should be decided under existing UN rules. "We should maintain the Arctic as a region for peace and co-operation," Putin declared.
"If you stand alone you can't survive in the Arctic. Nature makes people and states to help each other."
His unexpectedly conflict-averse comments come as the Arctic states – Russia, Norway, Canada, Denmark and the US – frantically scramble to assert their legal rights to parts of the Arctic zone.
Underlying the contest is the fact that the region's huge untapped reserves of gas and oil have become increasingly accessible as the polar ice cap shrinks due to global warming.
Putin admitted the Arctic contained "billions of barrels of oil" but called for the preservation of its "unique nature and fragile ecosystem". He also announced a major clean-up in Russia's northern territories of rubbish left behind during communist times. "We have to clean up the mess created over decades and left behind on islands, on airfields in the tundra region and in the waters of the Arctic," he told the forum.
Despite Putin's diplomatic calls for "partnership", Russia is pursuing its own claim to the Arctic's disputed undersea Lomonosov Ridge. Russia, Canada and Denmark all plan to file separate claims to the UN to show that the underwater mountain range – and its vast oil and mineral deposits – are an extension of their sovereign territory.
More at:  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/putin-arctic-claims-international-law

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