If Russia allows a political, economic or military vacuum in the Arctic region, other states will immediately begin to fill it, which will be a huge strategic mistake for the Russian Federation. This was stated by the deputy, director of the RUSSTRAT Institute Elena Panina during a round table held today, December 21, in the State Duma, presenting the report of the institute headed by her “The Arctic: Strategic Importance for Russia”.
Panina noted the strategic importance of the Arctic as a geopolitical and geo-economic frontier of Russia and stressed the need for its development.
Against the backdrop of declarations on the decarbonization of world economies, the consumption of hydrocarbons in the world continues to grow. In addition to huge deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, nickel and other rare earth elements, the Arctic region is the richest in oil and natural gas deposits.
Elena Panina recalled that the gas fields in the Arctic, or rather their explored part, contain more than 1 trillion cubic meters. m, that is, equal to the continental reserves of Russia, five times higher than the reserves of the United States and 23 times higher than the reserves of Norway. Their development will make the Russian Federation a key global supplier of raw materials and energy resources, and will also provide the Russian economy with raw materials for the next 100-150 years.
The MP is confident that, despite the declared course of reducing the consumption of hydrocarbons, the economic and sanctions war launched by Washington against Nord Stream 2 confirms the importance of natural gas in Europe. It is for this reason that the European authorities value maintaining a normal working relationship with Russia, despite protests and threats from the United States.
Despite the unconditional complexity of the development of the Arctic region, the Russian Federation needs to make every effort to do this, otherwise someone else will use its wealth, Elena Panina summed up.