NATO says Russia poses a "strategic challenge" in the Arctic

NATO says Russia poses a "strategic challenge" in the Arctic

From CNN’s Paula Newton in Ottawa.

NATO’s secretary general called his trip to Canada’s high north "historic" and promised a new era of Arctic defense as the risk of military conflict in the region increases.

“NATO’s new strategic concept identifies Russia’s capabilities in the high north as a strategic challenge for the whole alliance. Russia has set up a new Arctic command, it has opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites, including airfields and deep water ports. Russia is also using the region as a test-bed for many of its new and novel weapons systems,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a news conference in Cold Lake, Alberta, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The secretary general also noted that "the shortest path to North America for Russian missiles and bombers would be over the North Pole."

Stoltenberg is wrapping up a three-day visit to Canada, where he received a firsthand look at the North Warning System radar station in the country’s Arctic.

Canada has been reluctant to expand NATO’s role in the defense of the Arctic. The US and Canada jointly protect the high north through North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operations.

“The geopolitical situation has shifted over the past months which is why understanding that Russia is an increasing concern to all of us makes it timely for us to share with the secretary general and with NATO all the things that Canada is doing through NORAD, but also independently, to make sure that we’re protecting this region,” Trudeau said.

More context: Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Arctic has been a contentious stomping ground in geopolitics as global warming has reduced ice coverage and opened new commercial shipping lanes and made military expansion possible.

The US State Department also announced Friday that President Biden plans to elevate the Arctic coordinator position by appointing an ambassador-at-large for the Arctic region, subject to the consent of the Senate.

In a statement, the State department noted that a “peaceful, stable, prosperous, and cooperative” Arctic region is of critical strategic importance to the United States.