Harper Raises 'Russian Threat to Canada's Arctic' In Speech to Troops!

Russia has warned that it will revive its claim to a huge swathe of the Arctic in the hope that it can secure the rights to billions of tons of oil and gas. Moscow has long seen the seabed off its northern coastline as a mine of valuable hydrocarbons and is keen to fend off rival bids for control over the region’s resources. Sergei Donskoy, the minister for natural resources, said Russia had completed research on its submission to the United Nations, under which it hopes to gain an extra 740,000 kilometres. “That is a big increase to the country’s territory, that’s why we call this application an application for the future – an application for the future sustainable development of our country,” said Mr. Donskoy after greeting scientists returning home this week from the Arctic to St Petersburg on the Akademik Fedorov research ship. Mr. Donskoy said Russia’s application, which could net it at least five billion tons of hitherto unexploited oil and gas reserves, would be submitted to the UN in the spring.