JRL NEWSWATCH: “Melting Arctic Ice Pits Russia Against U.S. and China for Control of New Shipping Route” – Wall Street Journal
“Warming in the Arctic is opening a shipping passage through Russia’s northern waters that could put the country at the center of new Asia-to-Europe trade routes.”
“… the Kremlin is near to realizing its controversial plans for a global shipping route in its high north … put[ting] Moscow at odds with the U.S. and [potentially] China, two countries that also have designs on the Arctic. … Last year, ice coverage reached some of the lowest levels ever recorded …. That is pushing Moscow to build infrastructure along the route, which can cut the distance of trips between Europe and Asia by a third compared with shipping through the politically fraught South China Sea or congested Malacca Straits currently used …. Russia has already boosted its military presence in the Arctic and along the Northern Sea Route, but the U.S. says Moscow’s legal jurisdiction doesn’t extend to the waters where the Kremlin is working to develop the passage. …”