At Davos, Mark Rutte calls for Nato to \u2018defend the Arctic region\u2019 but says Ukraine should be top priority for security alliance.<\/b>
\nNato members must collectively protect the Arctic from growing Chinese and Russian influence, the chief of the security alliance said on Wednesday, while sidestepping the issue of Washington\u2019s controversial bid to acquire Greenland.
Speaking at an event during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said the transatlantic security alliance was crucial not only for the defence of Europe, but also for the US, which required a \u201csafe Arctic, a safe Atlantic and a safe Europe\u201d.
While he did not comment on the row between the US and its European allies over Greenland, Rutte said US President Donald Trump was \u201cright\u201d that Nato needed to defend the Arctic, as China and Russia were \u201cincreasingly active\u201d in the far north.
\u201cThere are eight countries bordering on the Arctic,\u201d he said, noting that seven were Nato members: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Canada and the US.
\u201cAnd there\u2019s only one country bordering on the Arctic outside Nato. That\u2019s Russia. And I would argue there is a ninth country, which is China, which is increasingly active in the Arctic region,\u201d Rutte said.
\u201cSo President Trump and other leaders are right. We have to do more there. We have to protect the Arctic against Russian and Chinese influence \u2026 We are working on that, making sure that collectively, we will defend the Arctic region.\u201d
The Trump administration has doubled down on its military ambitions in the western hemisphere following its operation in Venezuela earlier this month, with the US leader continuing to push for the acquisition of Greenland.<\/p>\n