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The race for the Arctic and its potentially rich resource deposits has intensified after Russia announced it is expanding its military presence in the region.

President Vladimir Putin made the announcement just a day after Canada said it will try to extend its territorial claims in the Arctic all the way to the North Pole.

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Speaking at a meeting with the top military brass, Putin said that Russia is “intensifying the development of that promising region” and needs to have “every lever for the protection of its security and national interests there.”

He emphasized the importance of the Soviet-era base at the New Siberian Islands in Russia’s northeast, which the military started to overhaul this year. Russian officials have described the facility as key for protecting shipping routes that link Europe with the Pacific region across the Arctic Ocean.