Moscow.- Russia will respond to the increase in the military potential of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Arctic with preventive measures, Russian Ambassador for Special Missions Nikolai Korchunov said today.
“To respond to these challenges and threats, Russia will take the complex of measures derived from the tasks outlined by President Vladimir Putin in the foreign policy concept and in the Russian Arctic development strategy until 2035,” the ambassador told Sputnik news agency.
Korchunov noted that the increase in political and military tensions in the Arctic is due to the unconstructive attitude of the United States and its allies, especially in connection with the military operation in Ukraine.
“The direction of increasing NATO’s potential in the Arctic region, including Finland’s entry into this bloc and the possible imminent accession of Sweden, indicates that military scripts prevail in NATO when it comes to strengthening its own security in the Arctic region goes. northern latitudes,” he noted.
According to him, Moscow will continue to help create favorable conditions for strengthening mutual trust in the Arctic in the interests of stability, cooperation and constructive dialogue.
In May 2022, Finland and Sweden submitted requests to join the war bloc to the NATO Secretary General in light of events in Ukraine. The consent of all member states was required for inclusion.
Ankara initially blocked processing of the applications, but on June 29, Türkiye, Sweden and Finland signed a security memorandum that NATO assured took into account Ankara’s concerns related to counterterrorism and restrictions on arms supplies.
Before the start of 2023, Sweden and Finland’s applications had been ratified by 28 out of 30 NATO countries. Hungary and Türkiye wanted to examine the Swedish application separately from the Finnish one.
On March 31, the ratification of Finland’s application by all members of the Atlantic Alliance was completed. In the case of Sweden, the application for membership is still pending due to the reluctance of Hungary and Turkey.