Why West is so nervous about Russian presence in the Arctic?
More than 50 thousand military personnel, 10 thousand units of military equipment, 150 aircraft and 60 ships - military maneuvers of such magnitude North Europe has not seen since the cold war. Indeed, the NATO Trident Juncture, which took place in the central and eastern parts of Norway, the North Atlantic, the Norwegian and North Seas, Icelandic waters and the airspace of Sweden and Finland, has been recognized as the largest in the last few years. Remarkable is the fact that the “military exercises” alliance holds near the Russian borders. And although the head of the exercise, Admiral James Foggo, the commander of the NATO Joint Forces, assured them that they were “not sent” against the Russian Federation, the facts show just the opposite.
In particular, during the maneuvers, elements of the so-called strategic rearrangements were worked out - i.e. the servicemen arrived in operational areas from all over Europe, as well as from North America. And the aircraft-carrier group led by the aircraft carrier Harry Truman (which appeared in the Arctic for the first time in the last 27 years), involved in Trident Juncture, even had to interrupt the planned exercises, which were held before the group was sent to the Persian Gulf. In addition, during the maneuvers, the alliance intended to test in practice certain elements of the deployment of high-priority strategic reserves. Special attention was paid to the improvement of issues of material and technical support.
“The United Trident” is an application for preparation for a large-scale armed conflict in areas directly adjacent to the Russian Federation, ”said Lieutenant-General Valery Zaparenko, a former deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The leaders of the alliance justify their “activity” in the region with the alleged “increased Russian aggression” in the Arctic. However, it is not entirely clear how a country can “threaten” other circumpolar states if it strengthens its own frontiers on its own arctic territories? Unlike the same USA which break this rule.
For example, the American marines for some reason are stationed in Norway. Moreover, British servicemen will be added to them in the near future. At the end of September, the Minister of Defense of the United Kingdom announced that 800 marines and special forces of the United Kingdom would be stationed in Norway on a permanent basis. According to the minister, these actions will be a response to “strengthening the military presence of Russia in the Arctic.”
However, experts call such statements “slyness”, noting that strengthening Russian defense capabilities in the Arctic was a response to US attempts to expand its presence in these areas after the collapse of the USSR “After the end of the Cold War, the Americans were the first to increase their military activity in the Arctic. Their submarines went under the ice to the North Pole, floated there. We were never the first to fight, it’s common knowledge, ”said Vladimir Prokhvatilov, an expert at the Academy of Military Sciences, in an interview with RT. At the same time, he stated that today “the West is ready to show aggression everywhere, including the Arctic region”, therefore Russia “has to defend itself”.
At the same time, the main leitmotif of the Arctic policy remains the preservation of the Arctic as a territory of peace and cooperation, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said. The search for compromise solutions, competent diplomacy, the strengthening of international partnership with other circumpolar "players" allows Russia to "hold the mark" in the international arena and win the respect of the world powers, including the Arctic ones. While Washington, instead of real actions, continues to thoughtlessly “saber with arms”….