Two Russian aircraft were detected, tracked, and identified by the United States in international airspace near the state of Alaska, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

A press release on Monday said, "On September 11, 2022, the North American Aerospace Defense Command detected, tracked, and positively identified two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering and operating within the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ)."

"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American nor Canadian sovereign airspace."

 Read: Stoltenberg: NATO eyes Arctic militarily, economically as ice melts

The release noted that the Russian aircraft's presence in the North American ADIZ is not regarded by the United States as a provocative activity or threat as NORAD routinely identifies and tracks all foreign military aircraft entering the zone.  

For such a mission, the NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, airborne radar, ground-based radars, and fighter aircraft and remains prepared to employ a number of response options, the release added.    

This comes amid escalated tensions between Russia and NATO countries, including the US and Canada, due to the war in Ukraine.    

It is worth mentioning that in June, Canada announced a $30 billion investment in NORAD modernization over the next two decades.

Russia returns to Arctic for economy, ecology, security reasons: Putin

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, during the Ecosystem - Reserved Land youth forum, that Russia had returned to the Arctic for economic purposes as well as to safeguard its sustainable defense capabilities and ensure the prevention of emergency situations.

The president also argued that the Arctic is an ecologically very "vulnerable" region and required special attention to ensure its protection as it is considered "to a large extent related to the Arctic".

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in August that cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic poses a strategic challenge to the values ​and interests of the alliance.

China is also expanding its presence in the region, declaring itself a "near-Arctic state" and planning to create a "Polar Silk Road" connecting it with Europe through the Arctic, Stoltenberg wrote.

Consequently, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that NATO's 'irresponsible' criticism of the Russian-Chinese partnership in the Arctic shows Alliance efforts to perpetuate the Cold War mentality.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Arctic is an area of Russian economic activity and Moscow's cooperation with China in the region poses no threat to any other country or organization.