But Moscow’s nuclear ambitions apparently do not end here. In early 2021, Norwegian intelligence reported that several of the new nuclear systems announced by Moscow that circumvent existing treaties, such as New START, will be tested and deployed in the Arctic. These deployments would make it easier to penetrate or simply evade missile defense systems while also compensating for conventional inferiority. It is not yet clear, however, if this particular report referred to the nuclear-capable systems listed above or to other, undisclosed systems. Nevertheless, the evidence is overwhelming concerning the extent and scope of these Arctic nuclear deployments.

Therefore, any serious discussion of strategic stability and European security must see the Arctic for what it is: hardly a zone of peace.

Dr. Stephen Blank is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and received support from the U.S. European Command, Russian Strategic Initiative for the research that went into this publication, while the work of Peter Huessy, President of GeoStrategic Analysis, was not sponsored.

This publication was funded by the Russia Strategic Initiative, U.S. European Command. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense of the United States government.

Image: Wikipedia.