Norway has launched a major military exercise involving 30,000 troops from NATO and partner countries as tensions escalate between the West and Russia over the war in Ukraine. Al Jazeera reports.
Planned long before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Cold Response 2022 aims to test how Norway will manage allied reinforcements on its soil in accordance with Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which requires member states to come to the aid of another member state under attack. .
“This is a defensive exercise,” Cold Response spokesman General Yngve Odlo said on Monday. “This is not an offensive military operation,” he told TV2.
As in previous exercises, neighboring Sweden and Finland, both non-military but increasingly close NATO partners, will also take part in the Cold Response.
The Russian invasion has rekindled debate in the two Scandinavian countries over possible NATO membership.