LONDON, May 28. /TASS/. British media are distorting the real situation when publishing articles about Russia's allegedly aggressive policies in the Arctic, the Russian Embassy in London said in a commentary released on Tuesday.
"Once again we witness attempts to distort the real situation. The far-fetched story about Russia's 'aggressively domineering' presence in the Arctic is an example of biased presentation of information [by the British media]. For the last several days, this topic has been discussed in the context of the launch of the Ural nuclear-powered icebreaker. We want to explain the use of icebreakers in the aforementioned region is conditioned by the vital importance of ensuring year-round navigation through the Northern Sea Route," the Russian embassy said.
The embassy noted that the Northern Sea Route is an important transport artery, and Russia bears responsibility of ensuring safety and regulating navigation through the Northern Sea Route in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
"Russia has repeatedly reiterated its consistent position on preventing the militarization of the Arctic and easing military-political tensions. Exploiting this topic for the sake of maintaining the narrative of 'aggressive Russia' is destructive for plans of all Arctic countries to closely cooperate with the use of modern technologies," the embassy noted. "Our country is open to cooperation in using this transport artery which is economically beneficial, as British journalists rightly noted. It is only 8,875 miles long, which is 5,500 miles shorter that the sea route through the Suez Canal and 9,300 miles shorter than the sea route through the Cape of Good Hope," the embassy added.
The Russian embassy called on "Western colleagues to abstain from engaging in geopolitical games and instead focus on economic cooperation with the aim of mutually beneficial stable development.".