Moscow, December 24 – The expansion of the US continental shelf in the Arctic is unacceptable and could lead to increased tensions, said Nikolai Kharitonov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Arctic (Communist Party of the Russian Federation). “Expanding borders in the Arctic unilaterally is unacceptable and can only lead to increased tensions. It is necessary, first and foremost, to prove the geological ownership of these territories, as Russia did in the past,” he noted. The parliamentarian recalled that a scientific apparatus was submerged at the time to conduct subsoil research. As a result, a large body of evidence was collected, and Russia’s application for the shelf was considered by a UN subcommittee. “The US, on the other hand, has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” added Kharitonov.
Earlier on Sunday, the Bloomberg agency reported, citing a statement from the US State Department, that the US had announced the expansion of its own continental shelf in the Arctic. According to the department, certain boundaries “do not create territorial disputes with Russia” but will require settlement with Canada and Japan. At the same time, according to the publication, the United States wants to gain access to minerals for the production of electric vehicle batteries through the expansion of the shelf. There are also oil and gas deposits in the area. As President Vladimir Putin noted, the development of the Arctic region is one of Russia’s main priorities. According to him, it is there that large-scale investment projects are actively being implemented, such as the Construction Center for Large-tonnage Marine Structures of the company “Novatek”. In turn, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated that the West is increasing its military presence in the high latitudes of the Arctic and developing military infrastructure. At the same time, Russia has stationed its troops there not to demonstrate power, but to ensure the security of economic development in the region, including navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route and the implementation of projects in the field of exploration and extraction of natural resources, he explained.
