Languages

Medvedev: The Arctic is best without NATO

President Dmitry Medvedev. Photo: Jonas Karlsbakk/BarentsObserver.com

Russia strongly dislikes NATO activities in the Arctic, President Dmitry Medvedev confirmed this week.

Location

-Of course, Russia with a significant degree of tension perceives NATO activities in the Arctic, President Medvedev told reporters in Wednesday’s press conference in Murmansk.

Asked by a journalist about Russian positions on NATO presence in the region, Medvedev said that “the Arctic can manage fine without NATO”. –This [area] is part of our common wealth, which does really not have any relation to military objectives, the President said. –This is a zone of peaceful cooperation and the presence of a military factor always creates additional questions, he added, a transcript from the press conference reads.

President Medvedev was in Murmansk together with Norway’s Premier Jens Stoltenberg for the signing ceremony on the delimitation deal on the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

In the same press conference, PM Stoltenberg stressed that Norway’s membership in NATO is no hinder for the country to develope good relations with Russia.

Read also: Norway and Russia sign maritime delimitation agreement