The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, at the behest of the Biden administration, is playing with fire. Apart from referring to the Arctic region as the “North Atlantic” and seeking to establish its dominance over the ice-capped region, NATO has also started practising sinking Russian submarines in the region. Vladimir Putin is hardly impressed, and the latest move of the US-led NATO to name a Russian submarine sinking exercise as “Dynamic Mongoose” only adds to the insult being meted out to Moscow. For the uninitiated, Mongoose are animals that take on and kill snakes.
NATO has clubbed the Arctic, alongside the Mediterranean Sea, Baltic Sea and the Black Sea as its “domain”. The fact that Russia prizes its dominance over the Arctic has not deterred the NATO countries from stepping up aggression against Moscow – at a time when there are practically no offensive manoeuvres, which Russia has resorted to. Vladimir Putin is not stepping on any toes, and attempts by NATO to put him on fire will definitely be met with a jaw-breaking response.
It is for this reason why we call President Joe Biden a warmonger. He has the ability to create conflicts where there are none, and escalate them in no time. The anti-submarine exercise being held in the Arctic has countries like Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway and the US participating. Two submarines, six military vessels and eight aircraft are involved.
Commodore Bradley Peats, Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 was quoted as saying, “By exercising and validating our anti-submarine warfare capabilities, tactics, techniques and procedures during Dynamic Mongoose 21, NATO will be better prepared to counter, and if necessary, defeat a subsurface threat during an emerging crisis or conflict….I am confident that collectively we will be able to operate effectively in a sub-surface threat environment, where joint warfighting proficiency with submarines, maritime helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft is essential to mission success.”
The Arctic is expected to gradually open up. As the polar ice caps melt away, the region will become a gifted sphere of influence for Russia to trade through. In the future, the Arctic can be used to completely evade the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans – and Russia is poised to benefit from the melting of the polar ice cap tremendously. But what that also entails is the strengthening of Russia’s geostrategic position and standing, which NATO – at the behest of the Biden administration, is trying to cull.
Russia, however, is in no mood to let go of the Arctic just yet. A few submarines being paraded around by NATO will definitely not deter Vladimir Putin from ensuring that when the Arctic opens up, it is Russia, which dominates it. And why should it not? Russia shares the vastest ‘coastline’ with the Arctic, while the US has only Alaska to account for. Unlike China – which stakes claim on the South China Sea based on a bunch of lies, Russia has authority over the Arctic by virtue of its borders with the region – which are available for the world to see.
The Biden administration, along with its allies, is rubbing Russia the wrong way for quite some time now. Especially after the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva, the US President seems to have gone bonkers. Despite Russia’s warning to bomb British vessels in case of any aggressive moves off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea that was also intended to warn the US, Biden is sending the US Navy to the Black Sea in a major show of strength.
Recently, things went berserk in the Black Sea region, when Russian fighter jets and ships reportedly fired off warning shots at the British Navy. The latter had violated Russia’s maritime border near the Crimea coast. Russia then issued a statement, which suggested that it will not tolerate any attempt to undermine its position in the Black Sea region. On June 21, the US’ sixth fleet announced that it would participate in the Sea Breeze exercise in the Black Sea, scheduled to take place between June 28 and July 10. The exercise, being co-hosted by the US and Ukraine, has the largest number of participating nations in the exercise’s history with 32 countries from six continents providing 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft, and 18 special operations and dive teams.
Evidently, Joe Biden is flexing his muscles before Putin. Russia, however, has made it clear that it will fire on and destroy all enemy assets looking to act smart in the Black Sea. Russia has begun a live fire military exercise of its own in the Black Sea, in response to the US-Ukraine war games. Two days before the announcement of its own exercise in the Black Sea, Russia had also tested its air defence systems in Crimea.
The meeting between the American and Russian Presidents seems to have led to no constructive change and has only aggravated tensions between the two superpowers. The Biden administration, along with allies, is making a big mistake by poking into Russia’s eyes right in its territory.