Earlier in April, the US and Norway signed a deal to deepen their defense cooperation and strengthen NATO operations. According to Zakharova, the new deal grants Washington the right to use the so-called coordinated areas for the deployment of its forces and assets for training and exercises, specially created at certain Norwegian facilities.
"We regard such activity, including in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders, as Oslo's deliberate adherence to a destructive course towards escalating tensions in the Arctic region and destroying Russian-Norwegian relations," Zakharova said during a briefing.