In recent years, Russia has succeeded in increasing the security of the Arctic, creating troops capable of effectively responding to external threats, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2021) In recent years, Russia has succeeded in increasing the security of the Arctic, creating troops capable of effectively responding to external threats, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.
"A lot of large infrastructure projects have been launched and implemented. In addition, success has been achieved in improving the security of the region, creating groupings of troops capable of effectively responding to external threats, equipping them with modern types of weapons," Medvedev said at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission on the Arctic.
He noted that in recent years the state had done a lot for the development of the region, life expectancy has increased there, the outflow of the population has significantly decreased, as well as the unemployment rate.
"In five years, the volume of traffic along the Northern Sea Route has grown almost eightfold, the cargo turnover of the seaports of the Arctic basin has increased threefold," Medvedev also noted.
Medvedev underlined the need to work out measures to preserve environmental stability in the Arctic, to protect it from technogenic incidents.
"The plans for the development of the Arctic zone of Russia are connected with the development of hydrocarbon resources on the coast and shelf of the Arctic seas, with the creation of new industrial facilities and transport corridors. This can cause significant damage to the nature of the Arctic, the health of people living here. It is necessary to work out measures to preserve environmental stability in the region, its protection from technogenic incidents," he said.
It is also necessary to think how to reduce the risks associated with climate change, adapt the economy and infrastructure of the Arctic to them, he said.
The preparation of a unified action plan for the implementation of the development strategy of the Arctic zone until 2035 should be completed as soon as possible, Medvedev said.
"Currently, the government is working on the preparation of a unified action plan for the implementation of this document [strategy for the development of the Arctic zone], as well as the fundamentals of Russian state policy in the Arctic until 2035. I hope that it will be completed as soon as possible," he said.
