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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Photo: Mikhail Metzel / imago / ITAR-TASS
Russia has criticized the planned expansion of NATO's presence around the North Pole.
"We perceive it negatively," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday in Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency.
With the announcement, the West is continuing its policy of confrontation with Russia.
"Russia will protect its interests in an appropriate manner." Peskov referred to security needs and "economic activities."
Moscow lays claim to 1.2 million square kilometers in the Arctic - in particular to the raw materials such as oil and gas stored there.
China is also interested in the Arctic
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had told the "Welt am Sonntag": "NATO must increase its presence in the Arctic." Moscow is in the process of reopening Soviet-era bases and stationing new, state-of-the-art weapons such as hypersonic missiles there.
China is also showing increasing interest in the region.
The Arctic includes areas of the United States, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Russia.
col/dpa
