Speaking to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin praised the military’s work in the Arctic, where Canada said on Monday it was claiming the North Pole as part of an broader claim on the region. The United States, Denmark and Norway are also pressing for control of what they consider their fair share of massive untapped oil and natural gas reserves.
‘I request that you pay special attention to the deployment of infrastructure and military units in the Arctic,’ Putin said, speaking at a Defence Ministry board meeting. ‘By the end of the year it is planned - and I expect it will be done... the renewal of the Tiksi airfield and completion of construction work on the Severomorsk-1 airfield,’ he said in televised comments.
Russia has already completed work on renovating an airfield on the Novosibirsk Islands, Putin said, which was abandoned in 1993. Earlier this year Moscow sent 10 warships and four icebreakers to the islands in a show of force.
‘I request that you pay special attention to the deployment of infrastructure and military units in the Arctic,’ Putin said, speaking at a Defence Ministry board meeting. ‘By the end of the year it is planned - and I expect it will be done... the renewal of the Tiksi airfield and completion of construction work on the Severomorsk-1 airfield,’ he said in televised comments.
Russia has already completed work on renovating an airfield on the Novosibirsk Islands, Putin said, which was abandoned in 1993. Earlier this year Moscow sent 10 warships and four icebreakers to the islands in a show of force.