MOSCOW, Dec 27 - RIA Novosti. NATO's activity in the Arctic region is intensifying, the strategic forces of the alliance are increasingly involved in exercises here in the immediate vicinity of Russia's borders, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said on Monday at a briefing for military attaches and representatives of embassies of foreign states accredited in Moscow.
"The Alliance is purposefully developing the Arctic for military purposes, increasing the scale of combat training activities in the region with the involvement of strategic bombers and the naval component of the global missile defense system, including in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Russian Federation," Fomin said.
He noted that the Alliance also refused to support the Russian "Military Restraint Initiative" in 2020, which provides for reducing the intensity of exercises and other activities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Joint NATO Armed Forces in the areas of contact during the coronavirus pandemic.
