Russia views the development of the Arctic region and the preservation of its natural resources as its priority, Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he addressed ‘The Arctic. The Ice Has Broken’ forum.

That is reported by Russian news agency TASS.

A clean-up effort has been carried out at 110 hectares of Arctic land, with over 5,000 tons of waste collected and removed, the Russian president said according to TASS.

The organizer of the forum is the Russian Ministry for Development of the Far East and the Arctic. It is s being held in the northwestern Russian city of Murmansk as part of Russia’s presidency in the Arctic Council.