Geneva:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed Washington’s issues more than Moscow’s expanding military presence in the Arctic.
“The concerns of the American side about militarisation have no basis,” Putin mentioned following a summit meeting with US President Joe Biden in Geneva.
Putin mentioned Russia was not undertaking “anything new” in the Arctic, and that his nation was “restoring the destroyed infrastructure” in the area.
The Russian leader has made the Arctic area a strategic priority and ordered investment in military infrastructure and mineral extraction, exacerbating regional ties.
He mentioned Russia intends “to fully adhere to international legal norms,” in the Arctic.
As climate modify tends to make the Arctic more accessible, international competitors for the region’s all-natural sources, its navigation routes and its strategic position has ballooned, especially in between the United States and Russia, but also China.
Moscow has beefed up its military presence in the area, reopening and modernising various bases and airfields abandoned because the finish of the Soviet era and deploying its state-of-the-art S-400 air defence systems.
As ice cover in the Arctic decreases, Russia is hoping to make use of the Northern Sea Route shipping channel to export oil and gas to overseas markets.
Putin mentioned Russia was “ready to provide assistance to all companies in the development of the Northern Sea Route”.
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