As Russia’s military activity in the Arctic increases, NATO and the United States want to increase their presence in the region. They showed it in recent days.
“NATO must increase its presence in the Arctic,” Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the Western military alliance, told a German newspaper. Welt am Sonntag. Moscow is reopening Soviet-era bases and deploying new high-tech weapons such as hypersonic missiles, he said. According to Stoltenberg, China is also increasingly looking north.
During a visit to northern Canada on Friday, the NATO secretary general also warned that “the shortest route to North America for Russian missiles and warplanes is over the North Pole.” According to Stoltenberg, climate change is making the North Pole more accessible to armies.
On Friday, the US State Department had already announced that the US would appoint a special envoy to the Arctic for the first time to “advance US interests and cooperation with allies and partners”. The plan still needs Senate approval.
The Arctic covers the territories of many countries. In addition to the United States and Russia, these include Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
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