The special envoy of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russia’s highest representative on the Arctic Council, Nikolai Korchunov, described the transformation of the polar regions in the northern hemisphere into a theater of military operations as “very alarming”.
In an interview with Sputnik, Korchunov said he saw “an increase in military activity at high latitudes.”
“Military activities are being internationalized. The transformation of the Arctic into a theater of war is of course a very worrying trend,” the diplomat commented on Finland’s and Sweden’s plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (Nato).
Korchunov, chairman of the Arctic Council Senior Committee, recalled that the traditional non-aligned policies of Finland and Sweden have long helped maintain peace and stability in these polar regions.
“Its eventual entry into NATO will hardly contribute to that goal,” he said.
Finland and Sweden submitted their applications to join NATO last Wednesday. Ankara initially rejects the two Nordic countries joining the military bloc and is calling on Helsinki and Stockholm to stop supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, banned as a terrorist in Turkey).
To join the Atlantic Alliance, Finland and Sweden must receive the unanimous approval of the 30 member states.