Sunak: Britain Must Prove Putin Cannot Rule the Arctic and Put Russia's Kola Bases at Risk
Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak has written in The Sunday Times that it is Britain's duty to prove that Vladimir Putin cannot rule the Arctic, arguing that Britain should strengthen deterrence in the High North and be able to put Russia's military bases on the Kola Peninsula at risk in the event of war.
Sunak wrote that Russia has long held the majority of its second-strike nuclear capability in the High North, and that the Northern Fleet, operating out of the Kola Peninsula, poses the single greatest threat to Britain. Russian naval activity around Britain has increased by 41 per cent year on year, he said. The Arctic is the gateway to the North Atlantic, and every NATO strategy relies on the ability to control that ocean; lose it, and US equipment and troops will struggle to reach Europe.
Among the measures he cited were a government-announced GBP 90 million investment in a new underwater surveillance network and a greater High North focus for the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force of ten northern European nations. "The final piece of the jigsaw," he wrote, is showing the Russians that in the event of a war Britain could put their bases on the Kola Peninsula at risk. Thanks to its commandos, Britain is one of the few countries able to operate in the Arctic's unique climate and topography, and if Russia knows its military infrastructure could be threatened, it is far less likely to escalate any conflict.
Sunak argued that the most vital contribution Britain can make to European security over the next decade is deterring Russia in the High North. The Sunday Times noted that he has donated his fee for the column to the Richmond Project.
(Source: The Sunday Times)
Source: The Sunday Times
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：英国前首相苏纳克（首相任内官方肖像，资料图）。照片：英国首相府 发布，OGL 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak (official portrait from his time in office, file photo). Photo by the Prime Minister's Office, OGL 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
