United Press International: Russian officials have tried to play down tensions with the United States, Norway and other nations over possible conflicts in the Arctic Ocean. “Media assessments of possible aggression in the arctic, even a third world war, are seen as extremely alarmist and provocative. In my opinion, there are no grounds for such alarmism,” Anton Vasilyev said Oct. 15, according to a report from the RIA Novosti news agency. RIA Novosti described Vasilyev as “a high-ranking official on the …