Russia Insists It Won't Militarise The Arctic

From Breitbart/AFP:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Wednesday Moscow had no plans to boost its military presence in the Arctic, saying existing laws could resolve disputes in the much-courted region.

"We are not planning to increase our armed forces presence in the Arctic," Lavrov told reporters at the close of an Arctic Council meeting in the northern Norwegian town of Tromsoe.

"The decisions taken provide for strengthening the potential of the coast guard," a move needed because the melting ice cap is leading to more human activity in the region, he said.

Read more ....

My Comment: Don't listen to what they say .... watch what they do. But as much as Russia would like to believe that they are a great power that can exert their power anywhere, the fact is that they have limited resources when it comes to making a presence in the North.

The Far North is very cold, and any idea that they can maintain a significant presence up there over any significant period of time is a dream. And if there is a melt of the Polar North (which I doubt), there is no land mass that they can plant their flag for them to say that it belongs to them. Greenland and the many islands of Canada are far more closer to the North than Russia's Siberia.