Russia is gearing up for conflict with NATO by stockpiling attack submarines and nuclear weapons in the Arctic Circle, Norway’s Defense Minister has revealed.
Tore Sandvik disclosed that his nation was monitoring escalating weapons development on Russia‘s Kola Peninsula.
The peninsula serves as headquarters for Russia‘s Northern Fleet and houses a portion of the Kremlin’s nuclear stockpile.
The Norwegian minister also cautioned that Vladimir Putin sought to achieve complete naval dominance of the Arctic region.
This strategy would enable Russia to block NATO’s access to crucial shipping lanes that would be essential for resupplying Western forces during wartime, reports the Express.
“Russia is building up on the Kola peninsula … where one of the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads in the world is located,” he told the Telegraph in an interview.
“They [the nuclear weapons] are not only pointed towards Norway, but towards the UK and over the pole towards Canada and the US.”
The Kola Peninsula sits on Russia‘s far northwestern border within the Arctic Circle.
The Northern Fleet is being utilized to evaluate new Russian weaponry and to help expand Putin’s nuclear arsenal, the Defense Minister stated.
Norwegian authorities also suspect that Putin is attempting to establish absolute control over two essential shipping corridors that would serve as critical supply lines should war break out. The first is a stretch of water between mainland Norway and the island of Svalbard, known as the Bear Gap.
Russian ships must navigate this passage to reach the Atlantic Ocean.
The second is the so-called GIUK Gap, a pair of naval choke points between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom.
According to Mr. Sandvik, Putin needs to control the Bear Gap to ensure the mobility of his submarines and Northern Fleet.
The Russian leader also aims to prevent NATO countries from gaining access to the GIUK Gap.
He further suggested that the Arctic Circle is likely to become the next “main security theater” following the conflict in Ukraine.