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“We can hardly speak of peace when [prie Rusijos sienų] tensions are growing and the strongest bridgehead for military action against our country is being built, ”Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
The US B-1B strategic bomber is scheduled to fly to Norway’s Erland Air Force Base this month to participate in a joint exercise with the country’s Air Force protecting NATO’s northern wing.
Ms. Zakharova argued that the Norwegian-NATO cooperation was one of a series of similar cases, noting the “continued presence of US, British and Dutch Marines” in northern Norway.
He also noted that the infrastructure to service US nuclear submarines near North Tromsø is nearing completion.
“We believe that such activities in Oslo threaten regional security and end Norway’s tradition of not allowing foreign military bases to operate on the country’s territory in peacetime,” Zacharova said.
In northern Europe, military activity has reached levels unprecedented since the Cold War in recent years, with a sharp rise in tensions between Russia and the West.
In 2018, an American aircraft carrier was dispatched to Norway for the first time since the 1990s, and the following year, surface warships entered Russia’s exclusive economic zone in the Barents Sea.
Norway’s neighbor Sweden has announced a sharp increase in military spending, although it is not a member of NATO.
At the time, Moscow announced the establishment of new bases and the deployment of military units in the Arctic region, where new shipping lanes are opening up as the ice melts.
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