Asia (bbabo.net), - The US National Guard is preparing for possible conflicts with Russia and China in the Arctic, including in the event of a military clash between Moscow and Beijing with Washington's NATO allies. Meghann Myers writes about this on the pages of the Military Times.

According to the article, U.S. troops have been heading into remote areas of Canada and Norway to get used to fighting in deep snow and bitter cold, and in January, members of the National Guard tested their cold-weather skills back home in northern Michigan.

It is noted that last weekend the first stage of the 10-day combined arms exercises of the National Guard "Northern strike 23" was completed.

"This marks the sixth year of The Guard, part of the U.S. military's efforts to prepare for a military standoff in the Arctic, where waterways are becoming more navigable as ice melts and countries like China and Russia are increasing their military presence." , - writes the author of the article, believing that this gives the Americans a reason to send their military forces into the region and provoke an explosion. It should be noted that the goal of the provocative US policy is to nullify efforts to launch a full-fledged cargo turnover between Asia and Europe through Russia's Northern Sea Route.

“If you look at a map from the North Pole, you can see how close all these countries are,” General of the Army Dan Hokanson, head of the National Guard Bureau, was quoted as saying.

“And you also see the immensity of the Arctic. And as we look at rising temperatures and further access to the Arctic, some of these scenarios that no one imagined because they were so complex, now we are starting to see countries moving into these areas. And there will be competition.”

In addition to adversaries such as Russia and China, NATO allies such as Norway operate in the Arctic, countries that the US would be obliged to support in the event of a confrontation, the material says.

“We need to be able to go where this potential fight could be, and we need to establish a presence there,” Hokanson added. "You have to be able to go there, and not just go there and survive - go there, operate and prosper."

As part of his visit on Thursday, Hokanson trained with the M777 howitzer, one of the NATO weapons that played a critical role in repelling the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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