Russia Submits Latest Claim over Vast Area of Arctic Ocean to UN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Moscow has submitted revised claims over a vast area of the Arctic Ocean to the United Nations. As per the ministry, Russia has claimed around 463,000 square miles of the Arctic territory.

There are many other nations including Denmark, the United States, Canada, and Norway that are also claiming their right on the area, which is said to be home to valuable deposits of oil and gas. As the Arctic ice is melting, these deposits have become more accessible.

Experts were of the view that if Russia is able to prove the claim then it will be having access to vast resources. As per the international law, no person or nation has right on the Arctic. However, as per the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, every nation that extends 200 nautical miles into the ocean from the nation's baseline can have an exclusive economic zone.

The part on which Russia has been claiming the right may have five billion tons of untapped oil and natural gas reserves worth up to $30 trillion. But as per experts, it is not only about the resources, as for the past two years, Russia has been trying to establish its military in the region.

"As Putin tries to reestablish Russia as a great power, as we see the increase of military activity elsewhere, the Arctic also provides the best springboard by which the Russians can once again reemerge as a dominant geopolitical military player", stated Prof. Robert Huebert from the University of Calgary.