Norway has suspended all political contact with Moscow and has canceled a previously planned joint military exercise with Russia because of the conflict in Ukraine, the Norwegian prime minister said.
The only interactions that remain between the two countries are "local-level contacts" related to maritime transport and fishing, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in an interview with Ukraine's Gazeta.zn.ua news site published Friday.
"There had been no problems in our cooperation during the past 10 years," she was quoted as saying. "But now because of the illegal annexation in Crimea and the Russian activities in the eastern Ukrainian regions, we have frozen all political contacts with Moscow."
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine this spring, in a move that Kiev and Western nations have denounced as illegal, and it continues to back pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine's east.
Ukraine and the West have also accused Russia of supplying militants with fighters and weapons, though Moscow says all the Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine are acting as "volunteers."
Solberg told Gazeta.zn.ua that Norway would be recalling its military experts "who were working with Russia on strengthening trust," and has canceled joint war games that had been planned between the two countries.
"All of this is because of the situation in Ukraine," she said.
Past military cooperation between Russia and Norway included "regular meetings" between top defense officials and two large-scale annual exercises involving the countries' Navy forces, according to the NATO-Russia Council website.
The largest Russian-Norwegian exercise, Pomor, has been held every year since 1994 and sees the countries' naval and air forces practice anti-terrorism measures, search and rescue operations and their response to environmental disasters, the site said.
The other joint exercise, called Barents, focuses on rescue operations and reacting to the fallout from oil spills, the website said.
In recent months, NATO has reported increased Russian military activity in the skies above Moscow's northwestern neighbors. Norway scrambled F-16s to track four Russian bombers last month, Reuters reported.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.