US to open new post in northern Arctic Circle: Blinken
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference following the NATO foreign ministers meeting n Oslo, Norway, claiming US Arctic concern is on climate change. All while USS Gerald Ford makes its way north from Oslo.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference following the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Oslo, Norway, Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US will establish its first diplomatic mission in Norway north of the Arctic Circle, allegedly amid its growing interest in climate change.
During a NATO meeting in Oslo, Blinken claimed that "like-minded allies" are needed for the US to advance their vision of a "peaceful, stable, prosperous and cooperative Arctic."
The new post will be the most northern US post and will be located in Tromso, in the Norwegian Lapland.
While Blinken alleged that the new posting will focus on climate change and working with indigenous people, it was reported earlier that the USS Gerald Ford, the largest nuclear-powered ship warship in the world, had visited Oslo as it sailed toward the Arctic for military drills.
It is worth noting that the warship was the first US warship to navigate to Norway in 65 years.
US media claims Russian northern fleet could threaten US east coast
The United States is worried about the Russian Northern Fleet posing a threat to its military presence in light of NATO bolstering its presence in the Arctic, seeing as Moscow is "seeking to expand its military presence" in the region, US media reported Wednesday.
"The fear is that a modernized Russian Northern Fleet could swing down through the straits between Greenland, Iceland and Britain, a move known in NATO as a 'red right hook,' to cut sea lanes and underwater cables and threaten the American East Coast with cruise missiles," The New York Times said.
According to NYT, Moscow is a respectable power in the Arctic, as Russia possesses naval bases and nuclear missiles in the Far North and in the Kola Peninsula, near Norway, which is where the majority of its nuclear submarines are situated.
Read more: Finland NATO accession to spur ambitions to militarize Arctic: Russia
Climate change made shipping routes easier to navigate in light of the melting ice caps, which rendered the Arctic more accessible and more attractive for both commercial exploitation and military endeavors, the newspaper added.
Russian media raised the fact that the report comes as Russia is hosting the 2023 International Arctic Summit, which commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Soviet Union taking the decision to officially manage and administer its Northern Sea Route along the Arctic.
"Russia is taking and will continue to take all the necessary measures to ensure national interests and strengthen the defense capability in the Arctic, a strategic region for our country," senior Russian Foreign Ministry official Sergey Belyaev told Sputnik.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022 highlighted that "Russia is returning to the Arctic both from an economic point of view and in terms of ensuring the country's defense capability, as well as from the perspective of preventing emergencies," noting that "We will develop the infrastructure of the [Russian] Ministry of Emergency Situations [EMERCOM] there," additionally "The development of the Northern Sea Route will take place and we have already launched some major economic projects there, including in the energy sector."
Read more: NATO expansion toward Arctic intensifies potential conflict: Russia
