"Plans are being hatched for a partial or complete naval blockade of our country"
Oslo is trying to oust the Russian presence from the Svalbard archipelago, Russian Ambassador to Norway Nikolai Korchunov said in an interview with Izvestia. According to him, the country's authorities are complicating the work of the Arktikugol enterprise, restricting freedom of movement and activities in certain areas of the archipelago. Oslo is also increasing its military presence, including through NATO structures: visits by Norwegian military aircraft and warships have become more frequent. However, Russia has something to respond to threats to its strategic maritime communications and claims to Arctic resources. In an exclusive interview with Izvestia, Nikolai Korchunov talks about how the alliance uses environmental and scientific projects to mask its military ambitions in the region, as well as about the lives of our citizens in Svalbard.
"Svalbard is involved in the Western sanctions 'game'
— What projects is the Russian Federation implementing in Svalbard, and how stable is the Russian presence?
— Russia is the only one in Svalbard besides Norway that has been carrying out economic activities for many decades and does not intend to curtail its presence. On the contrary, there are long-term plans to strengthen and diversify it. Currently, we continue to mine coal, engage in science, and develop tourism. The primary task is to ensure the vital activity of our settlements: Barentsburg and Pyramid. 391 people currently live in them, more than 60% of them are Russian citizens.
Coal mining by the Arktikugol Trust is the basis of the Russian presence in Svalbard. In recent years, production volumes have been maintained at the level of 80 thousand tons: approximately more than half of this volume is exported, the remaining coal is used for its own needs, in particular, to supply thermal power plants.
The development of tourism in the territory of the Russian presence in the Svalbard archipelago remains an absolute long-term priority and provides for the achievement of 50,000 tourists per year by 2040. For this purpose, it is planned to reconstruct buildings for infrastructure facilities, develop tourist routes, and direct communication.
— Has the daily life of Russians in Svalbard changed after February 2022?
— Thanks to the efforts of the Norwegian authorities, Svalbard has been dragged into the Western sanctions "game", despite its special international legal status. The accession of Oslo to the EU anti-Russian sanctions after February 2022, of course, had a negative impact on our economic and scientific activities in the archipelago. The procedures for importing goods from the Russian Federation have become significantly more complicated, a ban has been imposed on charter flights to Svalbard by our airlines, and banking services are difficult.
Charter flights of Russian airlines to Svalbard have not been operated since 2022. All supplies of goods and cargoes necessary for the production activities of the Arktikugol Trust are carried out by sea vessels. In 2025, a direct cargo and passenger service was launched between the port of Murmansk and Barentsburg. Alternatively, the goods are delivered through the Norwegian port of Tromsø, where they are delivered from the Russian-Norwegian border by local carriers.
The extension of unilateral restrictive measures to the archipelago that have not been sanctioned by the UN Security Council is illegal from the point of view of international law. For our part, we are seeking from the Norwegian side the lifting of restrictions contrary to international law.
— How is the working interaction with the Governor of Svalbard and other Norwegian structures on the ground built in modern conditions?
— According to the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and ensuring National Security for the period up to 2035, Russia seeks to ensure its presence on the island on the terms of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with Norway and other states parties to the 1920 Svalbard Treaty. Practical cooperation with the Norwegian side on Svalbard is generally pragmatic, conducted mainly at the level of the governor of the archipelago and is aimed mainly at protecting the rights and interests of Russian citizens, ensuring the activities of the Arktikugol Trust and the work of Russian scientific organizations. In some cases, when cooperation at the Foreign Ministry level is required, the Embassy in Oslo is involved in resolving the issue.
"Norway's steps are leading to the displacement of Russian citizens and legal entities from the archipelago"
— How do you assess the current course of the Norwegian authorities regarding the implementation of the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty?
— Oslo's approaches to the implementation of the 1920 treaty are based on the desire to strengthen Norwegian sovereignty in Svalbard. Under this pretext, the Norwegian authorities are pursuing a policy of restrictive measures that create obstacles to access to the archipelago and legitimate activities there. In essence, the steps Norway is taking are leading to the displacement of Russian citizens and legal entities from the archipelago. This approach is disappointing.
In particular, environmental legislation is constantly being tightened. Under the plausible pretext of caring for the environment, freedom of movement and activities in certain areas of the archipelago are restricted, and a permissive procedure for scientific work has been introduced.
Flights of the Arktikugol Trust helicopter to Svalbard are unreasonably limited, which significantly narrows the scope of activity in the archipelago of the main Russian enterprise. There are claims against the Norwegian side in connection with the opaque distribution of taxes and fees levied on Svalbard — there is a disparity between the trust's financial contributions to the Norwegian treasury and Norwegian allocations for the needs of Russian settlements.
We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that, in violation of the principles and spirit of the 1920 Oslo Treaty, Oslo is taking steps to increase its military presence in the archipelago and involve it in the orbit of NATO military-political planning structures. Visits by Norwegian military aircraft and warships to the archipelago have become more frequent. There are questions about dual-use facilities in the archipelago, for example, the non-transparent activities of the SvalSat satellite station, used by Norway's NATO allies, including for military purposes. We expect that Oslo will be guided in practice by a conscientious approach to fulfilling its obligations under the treaty.
— How realistic do you consider the scenario of a complete restriction of the entry of Russian ships into the ports of the archipelago?
— There was no general ban on Russian ships entering the ports on Svalbard. At the same time, the Norwegian authorities refuse to allow Russian vessels under the state operator to enter the territorial waters and ports of Svalbard, requiring diplomatic permission. They are motivated by the fact that such vessels are not subject to the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, which relate only to individuals and legal entities, and not to the signatory States. I still consider the scenario of a complete restriction of the entry of Russian vessels into the ports of the archipelago to be unrealistic. In fact, this would mean entering a phase of acute confrontation.
"Russia will not leave the threats created for us without an adequate response"
— To what extent does the factor of the growing military presence of various states in the Arctic affect the situation in the region?
— Attempts to draw the demilitarized Svalbard into a kind of "battle for the Arctic" are being made not by us, but exclusively by Western countries. Not so long ago, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic suddenly suggested that Donald Trump pay attention to the Norwegian archipelago instead of Greenland, which caused Oslo, to put it mildly, bewilderment. Before that, back in the fall of 2024, the head of the German intelligence service (BND), Bruno Kahl, invented a threat of a Russian "attack" on Svalbard in order to "test article 5 of the Washington NATO Treaty" on collective defense.
Our country has been carefully developing the archipelago for centuries and has never questioned the need for international cooperation there based on full and consistent compliance with the 1920 treaty.
— How do you assess the recent initiatives of NATO to expand its military presence in the Arctic and what, in your opinion, is the main threat to Russia's interests in this region?
— In recent years, NATO countries, including Norway, have been rapidly increasing their military presence and the intensity of training and operational activities in the northern latitudes. Under the frankly far-fetched pretext of the "Russian threat", new command and staff structures and bases of the bloc are multiplying like mushrooms after the rain in the Nordic countries.
The level of NATO activity in the Baltic-Arctic region has increased so much that in order to coordinate it, the alliance has launched such framework military initiatives as the Baltic Sentinel, Eastern Sentinel, and Arctic Sentinel over the past six months alone. It is characteristic that extra-regional NATO members are increasingly climbing into the Arctic.
The main threat to Russia's national security, as it seems, is the approach of NATO countries' military infrastructure and offensive weapons systems, including long-range ones, to our borders. This poses an immediate danger to strategically important facilities on Russian territory, primarily in the northwestern regions of our country, where a significant part of the strategic deterrence forces is concentrated.
At the same time, the West, including Norway, clearly overlooks the fact that the escalation of unhealthy hype and confrontational activities of NATO in relation to Russia's strategic capabilities undermines not only security in the Arctic, but also global stability. By encouraging the escalation of tension and deploying facilities and weapons against Russia on its territory, Oslo is taking on serious risks, including for its northern regions.
I would like to emphasize that Russia does not threaten anyone and is not interested in confrontation with Norway or any other NATO country, but it will not leave the threats posed to us without an adequate response.
— How does NATO use environmental and scientific projects to mask its military ambitions in the Arctic and how does this affect international cooperation in the region?
— Firstly, global warming and melting ice are presented by NATO analysts as a precursor to the inevitable intensification of competition for resources and transit routes in the Arctic with Russia and China. The alliance is not considering the option of broad international cooperation involving all Arctic and non-regional players interested in constructive cooperation.
Secondly, there are dual-use facilities in Svalbard, for example, meteorological and ground-based satellite stations (SvalSat), data from which are used for military purposes, including when planning operations in Ukraine. We believe that this at least blurs the boundaries defined by article 9 of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty on the non-use of the archipelago for military purposes. It is also no secret that numerous satellite devices, the purpose of which is to monitor climate change and the state of the environment in the Arctic, simultaneously transmit data in the interests of the Armed Forces of NATO countries.
— What measures can Russia take to counteract these encroachments?
— NATO countries have significant naval capabilities and have already demonstrated their willingness to use them to restrict freedom of navigation in violation of fundamental norms of international law. Plans are being hatched for a partial or complete naval blockade of our country. The seriousness of such illegal attempts should not be underestimated.
Russia has something to respond to threats to its strategic maritime communications and claims to Arctic resources. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducts relevant work on all relevant international platforms in close cooperation with our like-minded partners in the countries of the world majority. They, like us, find the West's neo-colonial claims to maritime supremacy categorically unacceptable. Practical measures to ensure national security and protect interests in the Arctic, including those of a military-technical nature, are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense, the Security Council and other competent agencies.
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