NOVO-OGARYOVO, Moscow Region, April 4 (RIA Novosti) — Russia's claim for an extension of its Arctic continental shelf will be finalized this fall and could be submitted to a UN commission next year, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Sergey Donskoy said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
"As of today, given that we will send another expedition this summer, we plan on finalizing the claim this autumn," Donskoy said, adding that geophysical and oceanographic research by the country's scientists into the structure of the Arctic shelf began in 2007.
"We'd prefer to submit the claim next summer because in that case we could work with the same UN Commission members. We have a good and constructive relationship with them," the minister said.
President Putin tasked Donskoy with coordinating the proposal with the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"We are working together. All our efforts were carried out in tight cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and other government agencies playing an active role in this case," Donskoy assured Putin.
Moscow filed its claim to a part of the Artic continental shelf including the Lomonosov and Mendeleev Ridges in 2011, but the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf said that it needed further scientific backing. Scientists have to prove that the underwater ridges are extensions of the Eurasian continent, thus linked to Russia's territory.
