(Adds details, background, Lavrov and Gryzlov quotes in paras 2-8)

MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) - Two Russian mini-submarines have surfaced after a more than eight-hour dive to the North Pole seabed, in a symbolic Russian expedition to claim Arctic territory, the Vesti-24 TV channel reported Thursday.

Russian researchers in submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2 traveled 4,200 meters (14,000 feet) below the Pole, and planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed.

The dive is designed to bolster Russia's claim to 1.2 million sq kilometers (about 460,000 sq miles) of energy-rich territory - the underwater Lomonosov and Mendeleyev Ridges named after Russian scientists - which the country says is the continuation of its continental shelf.

As man-made climate change melts the polar ice, vast reserves of oil and gas under the seafloor are likely to become accessible in future decades.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking from the Philippines, said: "The goal of this expedition is not to stake Russia's claim, but to prove

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