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US military claims to be monitoring Russian activities in Arctic

Tuesday, 06 April 2021 5:42 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 06 April 2021 5:42 PM ]

Pentagon press secretary John F. Kirby holds a news briefing at the Pentagon, on March 1, 2021. (Photo from the US Defense Department website)

The Pentagon says it is closely monitoring Russian activities and infrastructure build-ups in the Arctic, indicating that the United States is anxious about increasing Russian presence in the region.

“Without getting into specific intelligence assessments, obviously we’re monitoring it very closely,” US Department of Defense spokesman John F. Kirby said during a news briefing at the Pentagon building on Monday.

Kirby said the US understood that the Arctic region was becoming “vulnerable to expanded competition.”

“[We] obviously recognize that the region is key terrain that’s vital to our own homeland defense and as a potential strategic corridor between the Indo-Pacific, Europe and the homeland — which would make it vulnerable to expanded competition,” he said.

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The Pentagon press secretary emphasized that the US military would protect its “national interests” in the Artic.

The US, Canada, Denmark, and Norway have all been competing with Russia to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, as melting Arctic ice opens up new opportunities for tapping resources and new shipping routes.

Russia revives Soviet-era lab to test weapons in Arctic climate

The Pentagon has formerly claimed that, “Strategic competitors may undertake malign or coercive activities in the Arctic in order to advance their goals for these regions,” and emphasized that the Defense Department “must be prepared” and take “appropriate actions” in the Arctic.

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