Northern Assembly: Norway plans military talks with Russia

The Norwegian military intends to discuss security and stability in the Arctic with representatives of Russia, the headquarters of the kingdom's armed forces told Izvestia. According to media reports, the last negotiations in this format took place last year. Experts believe that a direct communication channel between the military of the two countries is necessary for de-escalation in the event of a crisis or any incident. And the militarization of the Arctic by NATO only increases the importance of such contacts. In addition to Norway, military cooperation remains with Turkey, and in February it resumed with the United States.

The meeting of the military of Russia and Norway

Norway plans to hold military-level talks with the Russian Federation on maintaining stability in the Arctic region, Rune Haarstad, a spokesman for the headquarters of the kingdom's Armed Forces, told Izvestia.

— We have meetings scheduled at both the operational and strategic levels. Ensuring the safety of Russian and Norwegian personnel working in the Far North helps maintain the security and stability of the region itself," the representative of the Norwegian army emphasized.

Photo: Global Look Press/IMAGO

According to him, Norwegian specialists maintain a dialogue with Russia at the military level. In particular, meetings are held annually with the FSB Border Directorate (for the Western Arctic region — Ed.), and there is an unclassified direct line of communication with the commander of the Russian Northern Fleet.

— Meetings are also held at the strategic level in accordance with the bilateral agreement on incidents at sea. The aim is to increase the safety of our personnel and vessels when they are in close proximity to each other. Contacts with Russia have been kept to a minimum, but we prioritize maintaining contacts on topics that we agree to discuss," Haarstad said.

In February, the Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces, Eirik Kristoffersen, took the initiative to create a direct hotline between the Norwegian and Russian defense ministries. According to media reports, the last military meeting of the two countries took place on September 30, 2025. Izvestia previously wrote that Norway is the only NATO country with which the Russian Federation maintains border cooperation.

A direct communication channel between the military is necessary to de-escalate in the event of a crisis or incident, as well as to avoid misinterpretation of each other's maneuvers, Nikita Lipunov, a junior researcher at MGIMO, explained to Izvestia.

Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces Eirik Kristoffersen

Photo: Getty Images/Per Ole Hagen

— Let me remind you that Norway did not close the border with Russia, unlike Finland. Cooperation between the border services in the field of search and rescue in the Barents Sea is also continuing," the expert noted.

Nikita Belukhin, a junior researcher at the Department of European Political Studies at the IMEMO RAS, clarified that the agreement on the border regime and on the procedure for resolving border conflicts and incidents, signed back in 1949, continues to operate between Moscow and Oslo. This document is the legal basis for continued cooperation between the Russian Federation and Norway.

Izvestia contacted the Russian Embassy in Norway with a request to comment on the possibility of such a meeting.

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Norway's position on Arctic security and relations with Russia is characterized by ambivalence, Nikita Belukhin continued.

— On the one hand, Norway positions itself as the "eyes and ears" of NATO in the north, aspires to be the leader of the northern flank of the alliance and invest as much as possible in its military content, and on the other hand, it sees itself as a country that bears special responsibility for stability in the polar latitudes, — said the expert.

There is also an economic aspect to Oslo's relationship with Moscow. In December last year, it became known that Russia and Norway resumed cooperation on fisheries, despite the opposition of the European Union. The question of Svalbard remains: the Russian Federation has the right to conduct economic activity there. A complete break in ties could provoke a tough legal and military conflict over the archipelago, which Oslo seeks to avoid.

Photo: Global Look Press/Philip Dulian

Meanwhile, NATO is rapidly increasing its presence in the Arctic. In particular, by 2029, a joint submarine maintenance center of the Norwegian and German Navies will be built at the main naval base of Hokonsvern. In February, it became known that the alliance would deploy its new joint air operations control center in the Arctic in the Norwegian city of Buda. The Russian Embassy in Oslo pointed to the deployment of troops from non-regional NATO countries to the Arctic. Great Britain is showing particular zeal, which in April announced the creation of a naval alliance of the Nordic countries.

Belukhin believes that a race to build up intelligence, surveillance and monitoring capabilities will unfold in the Arctic. The Nordic countries will place special emphasis on this area, including because it allows combining the development of relatively peaceful space technologies with the fulfillment of military tasks and increasing situational awareness in the Arctic.

The Russian Federation is also strengthening its military presence in the Far North. In particular, the Northern Fleet is being modernized and strengthened, and the icebreaking capacity is increasing. Russia is open to international cooperation in the development of the Arctic, but it will definitely protect its interests in the region, President Vladimir Putin said in April.

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According to Nikita Lipunov, all Arctic states with armed forces (except Iceland) have either military attaches or defense attaches at their embassies in Moscow, meaning minimal communication channels remain on this line.

— It is not the first year that foreign experts have been calling for the resumption of the work of the Forum of Chiefs of General Staff of the Arctic states. But there is currently no political will for this in the West. While the active phase of the Ukrainian crisis is underway, we are unlikely to see the resumption of a full-fledged military—political dialogue between the Arctic states," Lipunov added.

Photo: TASS/Alexander Welscher

The United States, being the leader of NATO, actually curtailed cooperation with the Russian Federation in the military sphere, although periodic contacts remained. For example, in the summer of 2024, then-United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Andrei Belousov. The parties agreed to restore permanent high-level military contacts at talks in Abu Dhabi in February.

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Of the NATO countries — except the United States and Norway — after the start of its military operation in February 2022, Russia maintained a dialogue with the Turkish military. Last year, Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov announced an agreement between the two heads of state to intensify contacts between the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs. Communication channels between military departments are especially important due to the conflicts in the Middle East.