Moscow 30 August : Russia has slammed NATO’s plans to expand the presence of NATO in the Arctic an area that is rich in resources which world powers are increasingly claiming as having strategic significance.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia considers NATO’s actions in the northernmost area of Earth as “negative”, dpa reported citing the Interfax news agency.
“Russia will defend its interests in the most appropriate way,” he said, noting security concerns as well as “economic actions”.
Moscow claims 1.2 million square kilometers in the Arctic and in particular, the raw materials like gas and oil that are stored there.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Saturday that “NATO must expand its involvement in the Arctic”.
Moscow, he noted, was in the process of opening bases that were closed during Soviet times and stationing modern weapons in the city like hypersonic missiles.
China is also becoming more keen in the Arctic, he said, even though it’s not actually an Arctic state.
The Arctic comprises regions of the US, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Russia.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Stoltenberg took the three-day trip this month that focused on the defense of the Canadian Arctic.
Due to Finland as well as Sweden’s acceptance into the Western alliance for military The trip to Canada also underscored Russia’s status as the sole Arctic nation that is not part of NATO.
On August 26th on, the US State Department announced that it would appoint an ambassador-at-large special to the Arctic region for the first time.
