Russia triggered a fresh scramble for the oil wealth of the Arctic yesterday after President Dmitri Medvedev called on security chiefs to establish a formal border in the region.
Mr Medvedev laid claim to a vast tranche of the Arctic, telling his National Security Council that it had "strategic importance" for Russia. Estimates suggest that the polar region contains billions of tons of oil and gas reserves, which are increasingly accessible as global warming melts the ice cap.
"We must wrap up all the formalities for drawing the external border in the continental shelf. This is our direct responsibility to future generations," Mr Medvedev told the Kremlin meeting.
Nikolai Patrushev, the director of the security council, said that Russia would defend its interests in the Arctic against rival claims from the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark.
Oy.
When viewed through the side lighting of the Russo-Georgian War, the fact they are now handing out passports in Simferopol and Sevastopol[1] just like they did a year or so ago in Ossetia, they are flying bomber patrols near the US and Europe (probably Japan too) again, the warning Moldova not to make the same mistake as Georgia wrt Transnistria, and flying two of its remaining nuclear bombers to Venezuela, it sure sounds like Russia wants the Cold War so much more than the US does. Oh, yes, it wants to build a space center in Cuba too.
1. Let's see if this spreads to more than Crimea. Places to watch are Donetsk and Odessa. If I hear something first, I'll be sure to post it.
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