Arya News - MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The situation in the Arctic remains challenging with a trend to deterioration, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Moiseyev said on Tuesday.
"I must note that the situation in the Arctic region remains challenging with a trend to deterioration. Instead of discussions about cooperation in the Arctic, we increasingly hear the opposite, including that the Arctic is a region of potential future conflict," Moiseyev said at the plenary session of the "Arctic: Present and Future" Forum. Over the past five years, the number of foreign exercises in the Arctic region has increased by 40%, Moiseyev also said, adding that the number of reconnaissance flights by NATO aircraft in the Arctic increased by 40% as well.