Writing for Politico, journalist Kenneth Rosen expressed his belief that the United States is behind Russia in the so-called Arctic race.
According to him, the Arctic region is already of great importance for the global economy, as well as for strategic influence, which makes it one of the areas of American interest.
But the Russian presence in the region is much larger than the American one, which puts Washington in a “lagging behind” position.
The article stated: “Over the past two decades, Russia has advanced in the fight for the Arctic region as it has built its fleet of icebreakers, warships and nuclear submarines. Russia is investing underground wealth in the region and is drilling fifteen thousand miles of oil and gas wells. Russia is also seeks to establish its control over the new Northern Sea Route, or Transpolar Sea Route, which could be operational by 2035, and is actively seeking non-polar countries to fund this effort. opportunities.”
The article emphasizes that the United States is not yet ready from a technical point of view to declare itself as a true Arctic state.
She added: “America only has two icebreakers and plans to build six more ships of this type, while Canada has 18 icebreakers and Russia has more than 50. In Alaska, the US does not have polar deep water ports that can receive large warships and vessels. And the only port is at the Thule Air Base in Greenland. There are 6 military bases in the Arctic region – but they are reserve bases for expeditions to the North Pole – and they all need constant maintenance due to the effects of climate change.
At the same time, Rosen stressed that over the past eight years, Russia has repaired and upgraded about fifty bases along its 25,000-mile Arctic coastline.
Source: News