From the military, political and technological point of view, Russia is fully ready to defend its interests in the Arctic region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview for a documentary series titled ‘Soviet Breakthrough,’ Azernews reports, citing TASS.

"We see NATO stepping up drills related to possible crises in the Arctic. Our country is fully ready to defend its interests militarily, politically and from the standpoint of defense technologies," Lavrov said.

The minister went on to say that NATO is becoming increasingly interested in the Arctic region, "claiming that the North Atlantic Alliance also has its own interests there, due to the geographical location."

"Norway was NATO's founding member, so they say they need to keep an eye on what is happening there," the top Russian diplomat continued. "However, the Arctic is not the territory of the North Atlantic alliance."