Russia is returning to the Arctic both economically and in terms of providing defense capabilities and preventing emergencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Russia is returning to the Arctic from the economic point of view, and from the point of view of ensuring the defense capability of the country, and from the point of view of preventing emergencies. We will develop the infrastructure of the Ministry of Emergency Situations there. There will be the development of the Northern Sea Route, we have already unfolded some major economic projects there, including - in the field of energy " said Putin at a meeting with participants of the All-Russian Youth Environmental Forum "Ecosystem. Reserve Land."

"The Arctic is a very vulnerable region in terms of ecology and requires special attention to its protection, so this is all together - cleaning up the old (garbage) and creating favorable conditions that reliably ensure both the interests of human life, economic, defense interests and the interests of protecting nature, all together is a very difficult task," Putin said.

He also said that the future of Russia "is largely related to the Arctic," and the first thing to do is to clean it from "what has been accumulated as a result of human activity over past decades."