US military not aware of Russia-China partnership in Arctic — Pentagon

The US military knows about Russia’s and China’s interest in the Arctic, but is not aware that there is a specific partnership between the two countries in the region, reported Sputnik news agency.

“I am not aware of specific partnership between China and Russia,” nominee for commander of the US Northern Command Glen VanHerck said during his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

VanHerck explained that Russia and China are very interested in the Arctic region and the US Northern Command needs to be able to defend the United States’ interests there.

“We need persistence and domain awareness in the Arctic to ensure that we are aware and able to detect, monitor and, if needed, deter,” VanHerck said.

US Naval Forces Europe Adm. James Foggo has recently made a point of Russia’s increasing activity in the Arctic, including the opening of new military bases and the deployment of the S-400 air defence system batteries there.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large Nikolai Korchunov told Sputnik that the deployment of S-400 systems on Russia’s Arctic islands is a logical step exclusively for the purpose of national defence and it should not raise concerns. BERNAMA