The President visited the museum exhibit at the Russian Arctic National Park, examined the technology for studying permafrost, spoke with specialists studying the Arctic region, and took part in the launch of a weather probe that operates using the GLONASS system.
The Head of State was accompanied by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Minister of Environmental Resources and the Environment Sergei Donskoy, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Special Presidential Representative for Nature Protection, the Environment and Transport Sergei Ivanov.
At a meeting on the comprehensive development of the Arctic, which gathered at a Defence Ministry facility the same day, Vladimir Putin, in particular, gave instructions to the Government to speed up the implementation of the regional socio-economic development programme and to the Defence Ministry and the Federal Security Service to protect Russia’s national interests in the Arctic. He stressed that Russia is willing to work together with its foreign partners in many fields of Arctic development.