Norway hosting the world’s largest warship, the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, in its waters over the next four days is an illogical and harmful show of force, the Russian embassy in Oslo said.
USS Gerald R. Ford is 333 meters long, 76 meters high and weighs about 100,000 tons. In addition to a crew of 4,500 people, the ship carries 90 aircraft and helicopters. Oslo is likely to be the first port the massive ship will visit as it has to conduct several exercises with the Norwegian army.
“The visit and presence of the warship group gives the Norwegian Armed Forces a unique opportunity to further develop cooperation and work more closely with our most important ally, the United States.” writes the Norwegian defense in a press release.
“Several exercises are planned with, among others, the army, the navy, the air force and the Norwegian special forces”, they added.
To some extent predicts Russia’s reaction and shows a resolutely pro-NATO position, said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. NTB that “there will be predictable reactions from Russia on this, but we welcome allies to practice in Norwegian waters.”
The Prime Minister added that Norway is continuing in the same direction as it has been doing for the past year, and noted that the visit shows that NATO is present at sea.
The Kremlin quickly criticized the move, with the Russian embassy in Oslo calling it an “illogical show of force”.
“There are no problems in the north that require a military solution. There are also no problems that require external intervention”, writes the embassy on Facebook.
“Given that it has been admitted in Oslo that Russia poses no direct military threat to Norway, this kind of show of force seems both illogical and harmful,” it added.
(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
