The Norwegian Telegraph Bureau said the US bombers, which arrived in the country last week, would remain there for a month
The deployment of US bombers in Norway is a natural part of cooperation within NATO and is not intended to anger Russia. Norwegian Defence Ministry chief Frank Bakke-Jensen told the Norwegian Telegraph Bureau (NTB) on Friday.
“The fact that our allies are conducting exercises with us is part of Norway’s adopted security policy and naturally in terms of cooperation within NATO. Russia is well aware of this, it has no real reason to be outraged”, – the minister argued.
“This is not about establishing any American base in Norway. American planes will stay at the Norwegian airbase for a short, time-limited period”, – he stressed.
NTB reported that the US bombers, which arrived in Norway last week, would remain there for a month.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on information about preparations to deploy a squadron of US B-1B Lancer strategic bombers at Norway’s Orland airbase for training and combat purposes, said Russia viewed this as a threat to security in the region. She said it was referring to “a military buildup in the far north in the immediate vicinity of Russian borders”.