MOSCOW, April 19 (Sputnik) – On Saturday, Rogozin visited the Russian mining community of Barentsburg located in Svalbard, which is the northernmost settlement in the world with a permanent civilian population, located about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole.
The North Pole. Our polar station – 2015. Russia is building up efforts on its Arctic presence
Posted by Dmitry Rogozin on Saturday, 18 April 2015
Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman Frode O. Andersen told a local news agency that Rogozin's visit to Svalbard was "regrettable," although not an actual violation of Norwegian law, in view of the Ukrainian crisis that the West claims Russia is involved in.
The Arctic shelf is believed to hold enormous deposits of oil and natural gas. Russia has been actively exploring the region, laying claims to the deposits within its offshore border areas, along with four other Arctic nations – the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark.
