Ukraine is small fish, the mighty war will be for the arctic oil reserves

[RVtitem]

• Tweet

According to a survey by the US Geological Survey, the Arctic Circle contains 15% of the world's oil, and 30% of its gas reserves.

The Arctic Council, which includes Russia, Canada, The US, Denmark and Norway, the five countries which border the area, is responsible for establishing the legal framework for the economic development of the region.

Russia and Canada own the largest regions of the Arctic, and have both signalled their ambitions.

The Canadians recently lodged a request to the UN to expand their nautical border by half a million miles, and claim that their country's continental shelf encompasses the North Pole.

Next year, the Russians are due to make their own UN bid for ownership of the Arctic continental shelf, which they claim falls within their rightful territory.

The Canadian government recently authorised testing for energy reserves in its Arctic territories.

In December 2013, Russia escalated its military presence in its remote, Siberian regions.

Following Russia's annexation of Crimea, Harper pushed aggressively for western sanctions against Russia, issued visa bans to key Putin allies, expelled a Russian diplomat, and sanctioned Russian businesses.

In July, Canadian fighter jets were scrambled after Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers skirted Canadian airspace. This was widely interpreted as sabre rattling by Putin in response to Harper's measures.

 Amidst the tensions, experts argue that the Arctic remain one of the least hospitable places on earth with commercial exploitation by any nation a long way off, and that years, and possibly decades of diplomatic wrangling are the most likely outcome of the dispute.

"We're talking about the centre of a large, inhospitable ocean that is in total darkness for three months each year, thousands of miles from any port," Michael Byers, and expert of Arctic and international law at the University of British Columbia told the Guardian.

"The water in the north pole is 12,000ft [3,650 metres] deep and will always be covered by sea ice in the winter."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/canada-russia-twitter-spat-amidst-rising-tensions-over-arctic-oil-1463167

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Russia can't attack Canada.  That would be even dumber than attacking Britain.  The Russian bombers is really not news.