Putin orders Defense Ministry to focus on units' deployment in Arctic
MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) - Russia must possess every lever for the protection of its security and national interests in the Arctic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The formation of new forces and military units of the prospective combat configuration of the Armed Forces is due to end next year. I request that you pay special attention to the deployment of infrastructure and military units in the Arctic," Putin said at an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry Board.
He stressed that Russia "was intensifying the development of that promising region and returning to it" and needed to have "every lever for the protection of its security and national interests [in that area] ."
Putin thanked servicemen and specialists for accomplishing a complex mission involving the restoration of a Russian military base on the Novosibirsk Islands this year. The president said that the islands "had a keynote significance for control over the situation in the Arctic region."