A “hot” crisis is brewing between Russia and Norway and by extension NATO in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
Svalbard, or the Spitsbergen Islands, is located in the Arctic Ocean, north of continental Europe, about halfway between Norway and the North Pole.
It is supposed to be part of Norway, although Russia has the right to exploit the archipelago’s natural resources under a treaty signed in 1920.
Moscow maintains a diplomatic presence in Barentsburg, where the Russian – as well as the Ukrainian – element is strong.
However, restrictions imposed by Norway are preventing goods from being transported to Russian-populated settlements in the Svalbard archipelago, Russia’s foreign ministry said, warning Oslo that it would face consequences if the issue was not resolved.
Now, the Russians are talking about a “Russian island” that was stolen in a moment of weakness in 1920 while also raising the issue of Barents!
According to Moscow, the purpose of the blockade is full NATO control of Svalbard, located in the Arctic Ocean.
The area is of great military importance, as whoever controls it controls the western “gateway to the Arctic”.
According to Konstantin Kosachev, Norwegian authorities are deliberately trying to prevent Russian miners in Svalbard from receiving food supplies.
“It is fundamentally unethical and violates human rights and humanitarian principles.
In addition, it is also a violation of the Svalbard Treaty,” Kosachev argues, explaining that Russia and other signatory states recognize Norway’s sovereignty over the archipelago only “on the condition that the country abides by the terms of the agreement.”
It is recalled that Norway banned the transit of goods through its territory needed to supply the Russian village of Barentsburg, located in Western Svalbard, in a repeat of Lithuania’s move with Kaliningrad…
They state that the ores mined from Svalbard “Power the Russian war machine to continue the war in Ukraine” and have cut off food, fuel and machinery from the villages.
Two Russian Northern Fleet warships have approached the islands and two strategic submarines are patrolling within a 100-mile radius of them, while the Norwegians are boosting their military presence and have also sent two frigates there.
Also continuing are P-8 electronic surveillance aircraft patrols from northern Norwegian bases,
Finland joining NATO will give even more NATO bases to support operations in the region, but the question is “Where are the Norwegians going?”.
Undoubtedly, this is a move to escalate and provoke a Russian response, in order to give Russia the occasion to strike NATO territory and to generalize the conflict with Moscow as the main defendant.
It is an extremely dangerous game because if Russia comes to a confrontation with NATO e.g. for a sea area, there will be direct missile strikes on western surface ships from non-stop weapons with all that entails.
But the West will also try to respond and after the speech they will have nuclear weapons.
