Moscow would defend its interests in the arctic in diplomatic and military terms, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published yesterday.
Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying in a series of documentaries that Russia was resolved to counter a drive by the US and its NATO allies to stage an increasing number of military exercises in the arctic region.
“We see how NATO is intensifying exercises in connection with possible crises in the arctic,” Lavrov was quoted as saying in the series entitled Soviet Breakthrough. “Our country is fully ready to defend its interests in military, political and military-technical terms.”
Photo: Reuters
The agencies provided no further quotes to illustrate Lavrov’s comments.
Lavrov made the comments against the background of a new Pentagon strategy on the arctic issued in July outlining what Washington described as intensified Russian activity in the region.
The US report said that Russia had reopened hundreds of Soviet-era military sites in the arctic and pointed to increased Russian cooperation with China on minerals and shipping routes which could affect stability in polar regions.
Later yesterday, Russia warned the West and Ukraine of “disastrous consequences” if they pursued what it called “provocative scenarios” against Belarus.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned by what she called increasingly “provocative” NATO activity on the border with Belarus, saying she did not rule out that there could be attempts to escalate in the region.
Russia has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Zakharova added.
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