Norwegian officials have reported that Russian forces have retreated from their border in the Arctic region. According to them, the current presence of Russian troops in the area is now “20% or less” compared to the beginning of the Ukraine conflict.
General Eirik Kristoffersen, the Norwegian Chief of Defense, made this announcement on Saturday, stating, “On our border, our region’s border, there is maybe 20% or less forces, which is less than what we observed before February 24, 2022.”
Following a meeting of NATO countries’ chiefs of defense held in Oslo, Kristoffersen asserted during a press conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin is well aware that the alliance poses no threat to Russia. He emphasized, “Neither Norway, nor Sweden, nor Finland, nor Poland are threatening Russia. If he believed that we were threatening Russia, he couldn’t have moved his troops into Ukraine to wage war there.”
Norway, a NATO member since 1949 following World War II, shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, near the Kola Peninsula. This area houses most of Russia’s nuclear weapons and its Northern Fleet, which operates the country’s nuclear submarines, as reported by Reuters.
Adm. Rob Bauer, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, chimed in, noting that if Russia viewed NATO as a threat, its response would have been “completely different” when Finland joined the alliance in April. He clarified, “They have talked about it, but they haven’t taken any physical action,” referring to Russia.
Finland shares an approximately 810-mile-long border with Russia.
Bauer continued, “The reason why they [Russia] attacked Ukraine was due to democracy, freedom, the rule of law, and the fact that Ukraine increasingly demonstrated its desire to make independent decisions about its own future. If democracy becomes entrenched in Ukrainian thinking, as we are witnessing, it poses a threat to the Putin regime.”
General Kristoffersen disclosed that Norway had transitioned from providing nonlethal aid to Ukraine to sending anti-tank weapons and other forms of support several weeks after the Russian invasion.
“The Ukrainian people are fighting for their homeland, for peace, freedom, and democracy,” Kristoffersen remarked. “Our Ukrainian friends are also fighting on behalf of all of us for a functioning rules-based world order, which Russia has challenged for years.”
He also highlighted that the five Nordic countries had come together to host NATO allies for training and exercises. Furthermore, he noted that once Sweden formally joins the alliance, it will significantly alter the perspective on defense and deterrence in NATO’s northern flank.