The Arctic is becoming the arena of a new Cold War as rival nations race for control of the North Pole and the riches that lie beneath.

Russia’s daring descent changed nothing in legal terms, but it jangled the nerves of other countries with claims to the Arctic. It showed Russia’s ability to support its claims with a physical presence in such a hostile environment.

Canada may have ridiculed the expedition as a throwback to an age of imperial adventurism, but this is a very modern struggle. At stake are huge untapped energy resources as melting polar ice makes it easier to exploit the Arctic.

Russian geologists believe that there are at least ten billion tonnes of oil and gas. The United States estimates that the seabed contains a quarter of the world’s reserves.

The rivalry is turning rougher. President Putin demanded action to secure Russia’s “strategic, economic, scientific and defence interests” when he visited a nuclear icebreaker this year. The Federal Security Service created an Arctic directorate in 2004. Its director, Nikolai Patrushev, followed this up with a spectacular landing at the North Pole to plant a Russian flag.

Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, has ordered a fleet of patrol vessels to defend “our sovereignty over the Arctic”. Denmark and Canada dispatched a joint expedition to boost their claims to ownership of the Lomonosov Ridge. The US dispatches an icebreaker on Monday on a research mission. It has been hampered by a failure to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which would give the US a seat on the panel that will rule on Russia’s claim to the territory.

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