At the same time, the U.S. Foreign Ministry noted that Washington is concerned about Russia’s construction of military infrastructure in the region.
The U.S. recognizes Russia’s “legitimate interests” in the Arctic, but is concerned about building Russian military infrastructure in the region. This was stated by a high-ranking State Department representative during a telephone briefing. The transcript was distributed on Thursday by the press service of the Department.
The U.S. recognizes Russia’s “legitimate interests” in the Arctic, but is concerned about the construction of Russian military infrastructure in the region. This was stated by a high-ranking State Department representative during a telephone briefing. The transcript was distributed on Thursday by the press service of the Department.
According to him, Russia is promoting an agenda in the region that contradicts the interests of the United States, its allies and partners.
“The U.S. recognizes Russia’s legitimate interests in the Arctic, Russia is on the Arctic Council”,- the diplomat said. – “We are working with Russia and other Arctic countries on a number of issues, including oil spill response, search and rescue, and [combating] pollution. The work is going on, we want to continue it, we have no concerns about that.”
“However, we are concerned about Russia’s construction of military facilities in the Arctic. The Russian presence has increased significantly in recent years, the Arctic Command has been established, airfields and other infrastructure have been restored”, – continued the agency representative. – Deep-water ports, new military bases along the coast have been established, and efforts to deploy air defense and missile systems and early warning radars are underway.
January 20, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, senior official of the Arctic Council from Russia Nikolai Korchunov said that NATO activity in the Arctic, especially in countries outside the region, leads to tension and destabilization of the situation. In late December last year, Commander of the Russian Northern Fleet Alexander Moiseyev said that NATO is actively increasing combat training of its troops in the region, and intelligence activities are also growing.