Putin emphasizes need for Arctic clean-up due to Russia’s reliance on region

Russia’s future heavily relies on the Arctic, but the polar region needs to be cleaned up of all the built-up waste first and foremost, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"[Mikhail] Lomonosov used to say that Russia’s future depended on Siberia and today we can say without any exaggerations that Russia’s future heavily depends on the Arctic and everything that is connected with this region," Putin stressed during his speech to environmental forum participants in Kamchatka, in Russia’s Far East.

"The first thing that we need to do is to clean it up of everything that has been accumulated from human waste products over the many prior decades," he emphasized.

Cleaning up the Arctic, Putin continued, "is an extremely important measure."

"Russia is making a comeback to the Arctic from the standpoint of the economy, defense and emergency prevention," the president noted, adding that the Russian Federation would continue building up the Emergencies Ministry’s infrastructure and the Northern Sea Route and continue its work on major economic projects, including the field of energy.

"The Arctic is a very vulnerable region in terms of the environment and needs special protection. This is why all of this together - cleaning up what has built up over time and creating favorable conditions that securely ensure the interests of human activity, economic, defensive and environmental-protection interests - is a complicated task," Putin added.