Washington creates an ambassador position for the North Pole
Stoltenberg: Russia's military deployment in the Arctic is a strategic challenge
Stoltenberg and Trudeau during the press conference.
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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the need to strengthen security on the northern side of the alliance to confront Russia, after a tour in Canada during which he visited military facilities in the Arctic, stressing that the Russian military deployment in the Arctic represents a strategic challenge, while Washington announced Creating an ambassadorial position for the Arctic, amid intensifying competition with Russia and China in that region.
"The province of the Great North is strategically important to Euro-Atlantic security," Stoltenberg said at a press conference at an air base in Cold Lake (Alberta), noting that with the accession of Finland and Sweden, seven of the eight Arctic countries will soon join NATO. .
"The North Pole will be the shortest route for Russian missiles and bombers to North America," he warned.
"This makes the role of the North American Aerospace Defense Command vital to North America and thus to NATO," he added.
During their tour of the Canadian Arctic, the Secretary-General of NATO and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the site of the radar warning and surveillance system in place since the days of the Cold War, before attending the military exercises.
Stoltenberg considered that Russia's capabilities in the Great North Province constitute a strategic challenge for the entire alliance, pointing to Russia's extensive military deployment in the region.
He reported that this included the establishment of military sites in the Arctic and the use of the Great North Province as a testing point for more advanced weapons, including hypersonic missiles.
The NATO Secretary-General expressed his concern about the growing Chinese presence in maritime transport and resource exploration, as well as Beijing's plans to build the world's largest fleet of icebreakers.
"Beijing and Moscow have pledged to strengthen their operational cooperation in the Arctic, and this forms part of a close strategic partnership that increasingly challenges our values and interests," Stoltenberg said.
He added that "NATO must respond by strengthening its presence in the Greater North region and investing in new structures."
In addition, the United States announced the creation of an ambassador position for the Arctic region, with the aim of intensifying its diplomacy there, and amid the strengthening of Russia and China's presence in the Arctic, with the emergence of waterways due to climate change that facilitate access to them.
"Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will soon appoint an Ambassador-at-Large tasked with engaging with Arctic nations, indigenous groups, and other stakeholders," State Department spokesman Vidant Patel said.
"The Arctic is of fundamental strategic importance to the United States and a priority for Secretary Blinken," Patel added.
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