DEFENCE officials from Chile convened a meeting in Antarctica on Thursday in a bid to bolster their claim to the territory as tensions escalate over Russia’s manoeuvres in the polar region.

Politicians from Chile’s parliamentary defence committee flew to a desolate air base for a meeting billed as an assertion of national sovereignty.

“We are going to be sitting in Antarctica in an act of sovereignty, of safeguarding and supporting our national integrity in the face of any threats,” said committee member Camila Flores, singling out Russia as posing such a threat.