Mired in the conflict in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has not, however, put aside his polar ambitions.
On the occasion of Russian Fleet Day, the Russian President on Sunday signed a new naval doctrine aimed at strengthening Russia's positions in the Arctic, both economically and militarily.
The Arctic is “being transformed into a region of international competition, not only from an economic point of view, but also from a military point of view”, states this doctrine, signed with great fanfare in the context of a naval parade. in St. Petersburg.
Given these factors, Russia will strengthen "its leading positions in the exploration and conquest of the Arctic" and its mineral deposits and ensure its "strategic stability" in the area by strengthening the military potential of the Russian Fleets of the North and the Pacific, specifies the document.
The Northeast Passage
In the Arctic, the country also wants to "fully develop the Northern Sea Route", also called the Northeast Passage.
A path, opened by the melting of the pack ice, which connects Europe to Asia along the Russian coast.
The goal of the master of the Kremlin is to transform it into a "secure and competitive path that would work all year round", according to the doctrine.
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The 55-page document also denounces the desire of the United States to "dominate global waters" and the "approach of NATO's military infrastructure to Russian borders", describing these phenomena as "main threats" for Russia.
Moscow considers the Atlantic Alliance, its old enemy of the Cold War, as an existential threat and has justified its offensive in Ukraine in particular by the Atlanticist ambitions of kyiv and the Western political and military support for this neighbor of Russia.