Norway, having signed a new agreement with the United States on defense cooperation, deliberately follows a course of escalation in the region and deterioration of relations with Russia. Such a statement on Thursday, April 29, was made by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
She noted that the Russian government drew attention to the signing of an agreement on cooperation between countries in the field of defense by the United States and Norway. According to Zakharova, the new document allows the Americans to create coordinated areas for the deployment of their forces and equipment for training and exercises at separate Norwegian facilities.
“We regard such activity, including in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders, as Oslo’s deliberate adherence to a destructive course of escalating tensions in the Arctic region and destroying Russian-Norwegian relations,” Zakharova said during the briefing.
Earlier, on April 16, the United States and Norway within the framework of NATO signed an agreement providing for the construction of additional infrastructure at three operating airfields and one naval base located in Norway. The infrastructure will become the property of Norway, but with the right to use the American side, reports the Topwar portal.
At the end of February, Norwegian Defense Minister Eirik Kristoffersen said that Norway’s dialogue with Russia is necessary to improve the tensions that have developed between the two states in recent years. He noted that a military conflict with Russia could be the worst event for NATO. According to him, Norway and NATO should have a strong defense, but the presence of a dialogue can soften the situation in relations with the Russian Federation.
As reported in 2019, the Norwegian authorities refused to join the NATO missile defense shield, and also refused to purchase and integrate appropriate military equipment into their defense system. However, on February 3 of this year it became known that the US Air Force intends to deploy four B-1 bombers and 200 pilots in Norway in order to exert “pressure” on Russia.
In the summer of 2018, Oslo announced that it wants to more than double the number of American troops in the country – from 330 to 700 people. Norway intended to place them closer to the Norwegian-Russian border in order to strengthen NATO’s presence in the region.