The United States and other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance have stepped up their military activities in the Arctic region, said Admiral Alexander Moiseev, commander of the Russian Northern Fleet, speaking at the Arctic: Present and Future forum.

“Considering the Arctic as a potential conflict region, the United States and NATO countries have stepped up military activities in the region... Under the pretext of growing conflict potential in the region against the backdrop of negative trends in the field of strategic stability and security, practical steps are being taken to... militarize the Arctic region,” Moiseev said.

In particular, the Russian military leader noted, the United States and NATO have introduced the practice of regular single and group campaigns of warships in the Barents Sea.

In addition, the area maintains a permanent presence of US Navy multi-purpose submarines, as well as a "steady increase in the intensity" of combat training activities, Moiseev said.

“The Alliance already has a developed infrastructure in the Arctic... and in fact, further practical measures are being taken to build up military infrastructure facilities... In general, the expansion of the military presence of the NATO Joint Armed Forces is already a fact and indicates the bloc’s transition to practical actions to form a military -power tools to contain the Russian Federation in the Arctic, ”RIA Novosti quotes the commander of the Northern Fleet.

Strategy and Presence 

Recall that in October this year, the White House presented a new national strategy for the Arctic, which provides for increased rivalry with Russia in the region.

The document defines a number of main areas of work: strengthening the US military presence in the Arctic, intensifying exercises with partner countries to “deter aggression in the Arctic, primarily from Russia”, modernizing the NORAD air defense and providing the US Coast Guard with additional icebreakers, as well as improving mapping waters of the region and forecast weather conditions.

“We will deepen cooperation with allies and partners in the Arctic to achieve these goals and manage the risks associated with further militarization and the emergence of unintended conflicts, including due to geopolitical tensions with Russia,” the strategy says.

At the same time, it separately notes that, taking into account the situation in Ukraine, intergovernmental cooperation with Russia in the Arctic is "virtually impossible."

The authors of the document do not rule out that interaction with Russia can be resumed subject to certain conditions, but they believe that this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future.

The North Atlantic Alliance also declares its ambitions in the Arctic.

At the end of October, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that the strengthening of Russia in the Far North is important when considering the issue of the security of the alliance countries on both sides of the Atlantic.

In this regard, he welcomed the upcoming entry into the alliance of Finland and Sweden, which should strengthen NATO's presence in the region.

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

  • AP

  • © Alexandru Dobre

At the end of November, speaking at the alliance's parliamentary assembly in Madrid, Stoltenberg said that the intention to strengthen NATO's presence in the Arctic is connected, among other things, with the strengthening of Russia's military presence in the region. 

“The High North is becoming an increasingly important region, partly because Russia has significantly increased its military presence there, reopened old Soviet bases and infrastructure, and deployed additional submarines and modern nuclear weapons there,” the secretary general said.

At the same time, he said that NATO can be called not only the North Atlantic, but also the Arctic alliance. 

“Seven of the eight Arctic countries that are members of the Arctic Council are or will soon be members of NATO – meaning Finland and Sweden.

Therefore, NATO, of course, can also be called an Arctic alliance,” Stoltenberg said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to the words of the Secretary General, noting that such statements cause concern and are an attempt to consciously form the image of the enemy in the person of Russia.

“NATO is pulling more and more countries into the high latitudes.

Many countries do not have Arctic competencies at all.

This, accordingly, increases the risk of unintentional incidents, the emergence of conflict situations.

All this cannot but cause us concern, ”RIA Novosti quotes the words of the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov.

However, it should be noted that the Arctic ambitions of the US and NATO are already beyond the scope of rhetoric.

Thus, the American military-political publication 19FortyFive reported in November that the alliance has significantly increased its military activity in the Arctic region.

The publication, in particular, reported that the US Navy and the Royal Navy of Great Britain are gradually deploying their aircraft carriers in the Arctic, which was considered a region of low tension.

Thus, according to the 19FortyFive columnist, NATO is showing its concern about Russia's actions.

arctic frontier

The Arctic region has long been of interest to the United States and its allies due to potential deposits of minerals and energy resources, Andrey Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, said in a commentary to RT.

“Gas, rare earth minerals and metals, and many other useful things that are very important for humanity, which the earth stores, are located in the Arctic.

The melting of ice is of great interest to states that would like to receive a share of these riches.

Some politicians in the United States say that if humanity used to fight for the Mediterranean routes, then in the future it will fight in armed conflicts for the Northern Sea Route, ”the expert emphasized.

  • Nuclear submarine of the Russian Navy during exercises as part of a comprehensive Arctic expedition of the Navy and the Russian Geographical Society

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Russia ensures the security of its latitudes, but this does not mean that NATO will withdraw its claims to the region, Koshkin added.

“No, they are preparing and we see how they do it.

They mainly increase the presence of combat surface and submarine ships.

Such signals indicate that it is necessary to take all necessary measures to protect their Arctic zones of influence, ”the political scientist noted.

The US and NATO will continue to build up their presence in the Arctic to try to challenge Russia's status in the region, military expert Ivan Konovalov is sure.

“The collective West sees the Arctic as a territory of future confrontation, and it has demonstrated this position before.

Please note: in the Arctic Council, except for Russia, all other countries are members of NATO.

All their statements and actions have always demonstrated a desire to fight for the Arctic expanses, which are mainly controlled by the Russian Federation, ”the expert emphasized.

Russia, of course, notes this position of NATO and takes appropriate measures, Konovalov added.

“Therefore, the Northern Fleet received the status of an operational-strategic command, that is, in fact, the status of a separate military district.

This has never happened before in our history, and thus the attitude of the Russian Federation to the fact that the West is building up its military efforts in the Arctic was demonstrated, ”the analyst emphasized.

At the same time, Russia is ready to resist NATO's attempts to challenge its status as the main Arctic power, Konovalov noted.

“For the West, it is quite obvious that the Arctic borders of the Russian Federation are very well protected and everything that happens there is controlled by the Russian Navy and Armed Forces,” the expert concluded.