Pentagon Says It’s Closely Monitoring Russian Activities In Arctic

Russian military activities and infrastructure build-ups in the Arctic are not going unnoticed, the Pentagon press secretary said. “Without getting into specific intelligence assessments, obviously we’re monitoring it very closely,” said John F. Kirby during a briefing Friday at the Pentagon. As ice melts in the Arctic, new options for transiting the Arctic open up — and also remove natural barriers that Russia once relied on to protect its own interests there. Now, it is seeking to bolster its security through the refurbishing of Soviet-era airfields, the expansion of its network of air and coastal defense missile systems and the…