Russia warns of potential run-ins with NATO in Arctic

Moscow is concerned with the growing activities of the US-led NATO bloc in the Arctic region, which may have grave security and ecology implications, a senior Russian representative to the Arctic Council, Nikolay Korchunov, has said. The official made the remarks to TASS news agency in an interview published Sunday.

“The internationalization of the alliance’s military activities in high latitudes, involving non-Arctic NATO states, causes nothing but concern. It raises the risks of unintentional incidents, which, in addition to security risks, can also cause serious damage to the fragile Arctic ecosystem,” Korchunov stated.

The US-led bloc has ramped up its activities in the region, staging increasingly massive military exercises, the official added. “Recently, another large-scale military exercise of the alliance took place in the north of Norway, which, in our opinion, does not contribute to ensuring security in the region,” Korchunov said, referring to the two-week “Cold Response” exercise that took place back in March.

The drills involved 1,500 US troops as well as forces from eight other NATO countries and “partner nations” numbering 15,000 in total. The exercise was marred by a crash of a US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft. The tilt-rotor went down in a remote mountain range, killing four on board.

Apart from direct military activities of the bloc, its potential expansion further into the north creates additional risks for the Arctic region, Korchunov believes. Both Sweden and Finland, which have maintained non-alignment polices for decades while enjoying close ties with the US-led alliance, are considering to formally join it in wake of the conflict between Russian and Ukraine.

“NATO expansion at the expense of traditionally non-bloc countries will not contribute to security and mutual trust in the Arctic, the strengthening of which Russia has consistently advocated,” Korchunov said.

The large-scale Russian military offensive that kicked off in Ukraine late in February has also been used as an excuse to disrupt the work of the Arctic Council. “In early March 2022, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland suspended their participation in the Council, citing Russia's special military operation in Ukraine,” Korchunov said, adding that there is no way for development in the Arctic region without Russia.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554036-nato-arctic-security-threats/

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EXCLUSIVE: Democrats Are Blocking Republican Efforts To Digitally Upload Hunter Biden’s Laptop

Democrats are blocking Republican efforts to upload the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop in a searchable digital format into the congressional record, the Daily Caller has confirmed.

House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff, which is responsible for entering documents into the record, is refusing to upload the laptop by citing technological limitations. Instead, they’re forcing Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s office to print hard copies and PDF-form documents of pages. Democrats maintained the stonewall even after Gaetz’s office offered to provide the proper equipment to enable the digital file transfer, the Daily Caller has learned.

Gaetz initially moved to enter the laptop during a March 29 hearing, but committee chairman Jerry Nadler of New York prepared to object to Gaetz’s request. Nadler ultimately relented after conferring with a committee lawyer. However, staffers he appointed are refusing to facilitate a file transfer.

Instead, the staffers demanded that Gaetz’s staff provide printed or PDF form documents of pages that could then be uploaded into the record, a Republican staffer with knowledge of the situation told the Daily Caller. The move forced Gaetz’s office to expend its own resources creating copies, even though House rules dictate that committee staff is responsible for uploading record entries.

Democratic staffers justified the request by claiming that the House Judiciary Committee did not have the technology to digitally enter the laptop in its entirety into the record, the Daily Caller learned. Although Gaetz’s office offered to provide a computer to majority staff to upload the documents, Democratic staffers declined, the Republican staffer said.

“Democrats and majority staff are actively obstructing the American people from being able to see the laptop in the public record. They have all the resources they need to enter Hunter’s laptop into the record — they’re purposefully delaying the process. It’s their responsibility as majority staff to enter materials into the record granted by unanimous consent like Hunter Biden’s laptop. The American people should be asking, ‘Why aren’t Democrat majority staff doing their jobs?’ and ‘What will happen if they continue to obstruct official business of Congress?'”

A spokesperson for Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Daily Caller for this story.

https://dailycaller.com/2022/04/17/house-judiciary-committee-democrats-jerry-nadler-matt-gaetz-hunter-biden-laptop/