Vast reserves of oil and other mineral resources are thought to lie under Arctic waters, and may become more accessible as global warming continues. According to the new legislation, permits to develop plots of the continental shelf will be handed out directly by the government without auctions or tenders.

“The continental shelf is our national heritage,” Medvedev said, most likely indicating that development of the Arctic will be left to Russian state-run companies.

Commenting on the cancellation of auctions in the Arctic development plan, Medvedev underscored that “This was done consciously to ensure rational use of this national wealth.”

Russia has moved to assert control over underwater territory. In August 2007, Russian scientists led an underwater geological investigation that tested soil samples and determined that a mountain range in the Arctic Ocean could be considered Russian territory. The surrounding area is thought to contain some 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources. A later expedition found that the range was connected to the Russian continental shelf, and planted a Russian flag underneath the North Pole.

A recent report by European Union experts has suggested that Russia will clash with Europe over arctic resources in the near future. Analysts from the United States, meanwhile, testified before Congress that the US is falling behind Russia in the “Arctic race.”

The ships will spend time around the Svalbard archipelago, entering waters that Norway claims are its own. Russia does not recognize a 200-mile fisheries territory around the islands that was defined by Norway in 1977. Russian fishermen have continued to frequent the area, and have periodically encountered the Norwegian navy, which claims they are fishing illegally. The resurgence of Russian patrols comes after requests from the State Fisheries Agency to support its fleet.

The archipelago, known as Spitsbergen in Russia, has a special international status. Although a Norwegian territory, a long-standing treaty allows Russia full access to all land-based mineral resources. The archipelago has two official languages, Norwegian and Russian, and Russian nationals may work on the islands without a visa. A Russian settlement, Barentsburg is in place on the largest island, Spitsbergen. Workers are primarily involved in coal extraction.

The naval press-service tried to make clear that its actions were justified, explaining that “all activities of Russia’s battleships are implemented in strict compliance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.”

On a different front, another territorial dispute was bubbling to the surface. As the Associated Press reported on July 14th, a new Japanese educational manual describes a set of contested islands in the Russian far east as “Japanese territory, illegally occupied by Russia.” The manual, which will be used to teach junior high schools starting in 2012, also names a group of islands controlled by South Korea as its sovereign territory. Seoul has already withdrawn its envoy to Tokyo in protest.

The seven-page document was written by High Representative Javier Solana and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who believe, in part, that global warming will strain Europe’s security concerns. The fundamental issues will surface as results of “intensified competition over access to, and control over, energy resources.”

The authors note that melting ice in the Arctic will precipitate a battle over underwater resources. “The rapid melting of the polar ice caps, in particular the Arctic, is opening up new waterways and international trade routes,” the report says. “The increased accessibility of the enormous hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic region is changing the geostrategic dynamics of the region.”

Global warming has already led to “minor tensions” between Russia and Norway over fishing rights in the Spitsbergen archipelago, according to the report. “The islands of Spitsbergen … have large deposits of gas and oil that are currently locked under a frozen continental shelf,”the paper states. “If global warming were to allow this to become a viable source of energy, a serious conflict could emerge between Russia and Norway.”

In August 2007, Russian scientists led an underwater geological investigation that tested soil samples and determined that a mountain range in the Arctic Ocean called the Lomonosov ridge could be considered Russian territory. A later expedition found that the area was connected to the Russian continental shelf, and planted a Russian flag underneath the North Pole.

In September 2007, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources backed that claim. The territory is thought to contain some 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources.