Russia plays down talk of Arctic resource conflict

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday played down worries of a possible armed conflict in the Arctic over control of the region's potentially huge mineral riches.

Global warming is melting the Arctic icecap and scientists have said it is only a matter of years before drilling for oil and gas deposits is routine, triggering a race between countries which border the Arctic Ocean to claim segments of the seabed.

Analysts have warned of a military build-up and last month the Kremlin included the Arctic in a document in which it said Russia may have to fight wars on its borders before 2020 for control of energy resources.

But the Russian president's envoy to the Arctic, Artur Chilingarov, told a news briefing that talk of a war in the Arctic was misplaced.

"Nobody's going to war with anybody, we don't need to talk about this," he said. "We will defend our economic interests but I don't see a conflict in the near future."

In 2007, Chilingarov dived to the Arctic Ocean seabed in a mini-submarine and planted a metal Russian flag to symbolically claim it for the Kremlin, a gesture that triggered angry responses from other countries.

International law states the five countries with an Arctic Ocean coastline -- Russia, the United States, Norway, Canada and Denmark via Greenland -- have a 320 km (200 mile) economic zone to the north.

But Russia claims a far larger slice based on its contention that the seabed under the Arctic is a continuation of the Siberian continental shelf.

Critics have said this is just a Kremlin push to re-assert itself in geo-politics.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)