According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Russian Ministry of Defence wrote that Norwegian policy in Svalbard could lead to military confrontation.
The newspaper talked to several sources in the Ministry of Defence, confirming that Russian authorities are not happy with Norway’s Svalbard policy, wrote The Barents Observer.
There have, for a long period of time, been disagreements between Norway and Russia about, among other things, the Svalbard Treaty. According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Defence considers Svalbard to be the place where the likelihood of a confrontation between Russia and NATO is greatest.
The report emphasised that Norwegian authorities wanted ‘absolute national jurisdiction over Svalbard, and a maritime zone of approximately 200 nautical miles’.
Elsewhere, they believe military confrontation could happen on the controversial archipelago of Kurilene, which both Japan, and Russia, want control over, and also the Azores. This sea borders both Ukraine, Russia, and the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
Not Azores but Azov