“The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)’s actions may lead to escalation in the Arctic Region,” Russian Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large Nikolay Korchunov has told TASS in an interview.
“The issue of inviting the Russian side to events to be organized during the Norwegian presidency was not discussed. At the same time, I would like to note that the non-invitation of Russian representatives to the events of the Arctic Council will mean a violation of its rights as a member state, and in this case, the continuation of our country’s participation in the activities of this organization will hardly be possible.
“We see no signs of improvement with regard to military security in the Arctic. NATO expansion continues in the region, the scope of the alliance’s military exercises there is on the rise, and its non-Arctic member states actively participate in them. Their military potential in high latitudes continues to grow,” he said.
“At the same time, Western countries are enhancing their course towards adversarial relations, confrontation and promotion of their own interests in the Arctic, to the detriment of other countries’ interests,” the Russian diplomat continued. “Under those circumstances, we cannot rule out the possibility of escalation in this region.”
At the same time, Korchunov stressed that “a number of strategic documents of some Arctic countries portray the Russian Federation as an adversary and a threat to their security.”