Transportation security

US demands shared use of Russia’s Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route, which lies in Arctic waters and within Russia’s Exclusive Economic Zone, should be a transport corridor open to the entire world community, Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the US Coast Guard, said.

Zukunft told journalists that the US Armed Forces still do not intend to conduct operations in the Arctic to uphold the principle of freedom of navigation, as is done in the South China Sea. 

“There is currently no pressure to conduct exercises for the freedom of navigation in the Arctic, but… the US approach is that the Northern Sea Route should be open as an international water corridor for, let’s say, a transit passage – as we see this area is being cleared of ice,” Zukunft said, adding that at the moment there’s no certain plan for conducting any exercises in the area.

The US military commander acknowledged that such a position by Washington concerning the Northern Sea Route would inevitably be rejected by Moscow. “This will require a substantial dialogue in the future,” he said.

The Northern Sea Route, which stretches the entire length of Russia’s Arctic and Far East regions, is expected to become a major trade route for goods shipped between Europe and Asia.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the route would become “the key to the development of the Russian Arctic regions of the Far East.”