"I am talking about Russia being able to claim territory outside its economic zone," Valery Kaminsky said.
He said a just completed expedition to the Arctic Ocean was undertaken in line with a state order from the Natural Resources Ministry and the Federal Agency for the Management of Mineral Resources in order to obtain additional materials to establish the border of the Russian continental shelf in the Arctic.
Kaminsky told journalists onboard the Rossiya nuclear-powered icebreaker that although materials obtained during his scientific expedition would require a year to be thoroughly studied and processed, it was already certain that Russia could claim additional territory in the Arctic.
"All these complex results will give us new data and strengthen Russia's position with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)," he said. "All these strengthen Russia's economic, political and international positions in the Arctic."
Kaminsky said the expedition to the Arctic Ocean, which ended Monday, took 43 days.