NATO nations have been building up their military presence in the region, with Russia vowing to protect its national interests there

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a multibillion-dollar plan to increase the country’s military presence in the Arctic.

NATO, of which Canada is a member, has been actively ramping up its military footprint in the strategically important region in recent years, citing a perceived Russian threat. Moscow has dismissed the allegations, saying that the military bloc views the Arctic as a “bridgehead for possible conflicts.” President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will respond to the NATO military buildup in the region, where it possesses more than half of the entire coastline.

On Thursday, Carney stated that Canada would invest C$35 billion ($25.7 billion) in “forward operating locations” in the Arctic communities of Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Iqaluit, and several other locations. The plan envisages military airfield upgrades as well as the creation of hangars, ammunition and fuel facilities, among other installations, with a view to enabling the Canadian military to “deploy rapidly and support year-round response” in the region.

According to the prime minister, the new military infrastructure would lessen Canada’s reliance on other NATO member states to project force in the far north.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte previously said member states were “working together” in the Arctic to “defend this part of NATO territory.”

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Earlier this month, the Russian ambassador to Norway, Nikolay Korchunov, warned of a NATO “confrontational frenzy” in the region, claiming that the Western military bloc was considering a partial or full naval blockade of Russia.

Last March, President Putin stated that Moscow was “concerned by the fact that NATO countries as a whole are more frequently designating the far north as a bridgehead for possible conflicts, practicing the use of troops in these conditions.”

While “Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic,” it would not tolerate any encroachments on its sovereignty and will “reliably protect” its national interests in the region, Putin said.