MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - The results...

Russian researchers made the first-ever dive below the North Pole in two mini-submarines last Thursday, taking rock samples from the seabed to gather proof that Russia's continental shelf stretches out into the Arctic across the Pole.

Meeting with members of the expedition - veteran explorer Artur Chilingarov and Anatoly Sagalevich, a researcher who piloted one of the submersibles - Putin said: "This has yet to be discussed with our partners, or defended in international organizations. The results of your expedition must be central to Russia's case on the issue."

In 2001, Russia said it was entitled to an extra 1.2 million square kilometers (460,000 square miles) of the Arctic, claiming the underwater Lomonosov Ridge is a continuation of its shelf. The UN demanded more evidence.

As well as collecting geological samples, the explorers planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed, 4,200 meters (14,000 feet) below the surface, in a symbolic gesture to claim

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