(Reuters) – Russia fears increased NATO activity in Arctic, and believes there are risks of unintended events in that region. This was stated by Nikolai Korchunov, Russian Ambassador-at-large.

Both Sweden and Finland, both of which have been considering joining NATO’s military alliance under the U.S., held combined NATO military drills in March. Although the exercise had been planned for a long time, Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine added to its intensity. Moscow refers to its military operations in Ukraine as “special military operations”.

Concern is expressed by NATO’s recent increased activity in Arctic. A large-scale joint military exercise was also held recently in Norway. Korchunov stated that this did not help to secure the region.

Korchunov says such activities raise the possibility of unintended events, which in addition to security threats, could also result in serious harm to the Arctic ecosystem.

However, he did not say what kind of incident he was referring to.

NATO was warned Thursday by one of Putin’s most trusted allies that Russia will deploy nuclear weapons in Europe if Sweden and Finland join NATO.