The tension between Russia and the United States intensifies with the passing of the weeks. If the Russo-Ukrainian war is being the center of all geopolitical disputes, now the tensions are also moving to the Arctic as a result of the new movement of the North American country.
The reason for this new episode is the arrival of the American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest in the world, in Norway, with the aim of carrying out training maneuvers with the Armed Forces of the Nordic country, which will involve 150 aircraft. from 14 countries in the Arctic as of May 29.
The position of the United States has not been liked at all in the Kremlin, which has demanded explanations through its embassy in Norway, assuring that “there are no issues in the north that require a military solution, nor issues in which external intervention is needed “. The fear of Moscow occurs since Norway is a member of NATO and also borders Russia, both maritime -Barents Sea- and land.
Russia interprets these movements as a direct threat to its territory, since the Russian presence in the Arctic is not a minor thing, since it has three million square kilometers where around 2.5 million Russians live, which represents a 40 % of the total population of the Arctic worldwide, which is why Russia considers it as its ‘backyard’.
It is also an enclave of enormous importance, since 25% of the world’s oil and gas reserves are found there. All this makes it a point of conflict due to its control by the main powers.
It’s not the first time it’s happened
From the US, it has been reported that Oslo will be the first port of call in a program that will last about six months, a good part of which will be spent in the northern seas, in the words of the Navy captain, Brian Metcalf. .
The significance of the US presence in this enclave is especially important now due to the armed conflict in Ukraine, although it must be remembered that the country led by Biden has been carrying out this type of maneuvers with aircraft carriers since December 2021, precisely when US intelligence detected movements of Russian troops preparing for the invasion of Ukraine.
On that occasion, the aircraft carrier in question was the USS Harry S. Truman, which eventually headed for the Pentagon instead of continuing on its planned route map, through the Suez Canal. Once she reached her territory, the USS Gerard Ford took over.
The Norwegian Defense Minister justifies this presence by assuring that “this is the concrete expression of our close relationship with the United States and demonstrates the will to collective defense and deterrence.”
The USS Gerald R. Ford is 333 meters long and has a displacement of 100,000 tons with a nuclear propulsion system. She is the most modern ship in the US Navy and can carry up to 4,500 crew members, 90 fighters and helicopters on board.
This visit will take place at a time when the “Formidable Shield 2023” maneuvers are taking place in the North Atlantic Ocean, with the presence of thirteen NATO countries.
Source: HuffPost Spain for Athena2 by www.huffingtonpost.es.
*The article has been translated based on the content of HuffPost Spain for Athena2 by www.huffingtonpost.es. If there is any problem regarding the content, copyright, please leave a report below the article. We will try to process as quickly as possible to protect the rights of the author. Thank you very much!
*We just want readers to access information more quickly and easily with other multilingual content, instead of information only available in a certain language.
*We always respect the copyright of the content of the author and always include the original link of the source article.If the author disagrees, just leave the report below the article, the article will be edited or deleted at the request of the author. Thanks very much! Best regards!
