Lavrov Plans To Address NATO's Regional Activities At Arctic Council In Reykjavik

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Monday his plans to discuss the activities of NATO member states in the Arctic region at meetings of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik later this week

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Monday his plans to discuss the activities of NATO member states in the Arctic region at meetings of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik later this week.

While Russia's military activities in the Arctic are legal due to it being official Russian territory and a domain for the security of which Russia is responsible, NATO's activities raise questions, the diplomat said at a joint press conference with his Sierra Leone counterpart, David John Francis.

"When NATO is trying to justify its offensive in the Arctic, that is probably a slightly different situation. And here, we have questions to our neighbors, such as Norway, for example, which is trying to justify the need for NATO to come to the Arctic. We will, of course, talk about this openly in Reykjavik, at the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council," Lavrov said.

In February, the Russian foreign ministry's Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation Nikolay Korchunov told Sputnik that the increasing military activity and the weakening of confidence-building measures in the Arctic could throw the world several decades back to a Cold War-like situation. Moscow sees signs of growing confrontation in the Arctic region, the diplomat noted, pointing to "attempts to extend the NATO area of responsibility to the Arctic region," among other things.

According to Commander of the Russian Northern Fleet Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, NATO operational and combat training activities near Russian borders in the Arctic had grown in intensity in recent years.

Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow has taken measures in response to threatening NATO activities, adding that Russian military exercises showed the full readiness of the troops.