Russian president eyes Arctic riches

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia must defend its claims to mineral riches of the Arctic in increasing competition with other powers, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday.

Medvedev said global climate change and evidence of shrinking polar ice will likely fuel arguments between nations seeking access to energy and other resources.

"Other polar nations already have taken active steps to expand their scientific research as well as economic and even military presence in the Arctic," he told a session of the presidential Security Council.

Medvedev added that attempts have been made to limit Russia's access to Arctic resources, but he didn't name a specific nation.

Russia claims a large part of the Arctic seabed as its own, arguing that it is an extension of its continental shelf.

In 2007, scientists staked a symbolic claim by dropping a canister containing the Russian flag onto the seabed from a small submarine.

The United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway have also been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to contain as much as a quarter of the Earth's undiscovered oil and gas.

The dispute has intensified amid growing evidence that global warming is shrinking polar ice, opening up new shipping lanes and new resource development opportunities.