Artic claims...

Russia sabre-rattling prior to the Artic Summit:

President Dimitry Medvedev of Russia, heightened the tension between Canada and Russia on Wednesday when he told the UN Security Council that Russia must be prepared to defend its Artic claims.

Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway hold claims on the resource rich region. Experts believe that the Arctic holds one quarter of the worlds untapped oil and gas reserves.

Medvedev had said yesterday that some countries attempts to restrict Russia's access to the Arctic is unacceptable he said.

"Regrettably, we have seen attempts to limit Russia's access to the exploration and development of the Arctic mineral resources," he said. "That's absolutely inadmissible from the legal viewpoint and unfair given our nation's geographical location and history."