OSLO (Reuters) – Two generals from Norway and Russia met in the Arctic on Thursday to discuss border cooperation and related issues, the Norwegian armed forces said on Friday, in the first known such meeting since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
The meeting between Lieutenant General Yngve Odlo, chief of Norway’s joint headquarters and Lieutenant General Stanislav Vladimirovich Maslov, chief of the FSB Border Directorate for Russia’s Western Arctic region, took place on a Norwegian coast guard vessel, the Norwegian military said in a statement.
Russia and Norway share a border in the Arctic.
“It is important to conduct these meetings to discuss challenges and agree on common objectives and necessary measures regarding border cooperation, rescue cooperation, and fisheries management,” Odlo said in a statement.
“It can prevent accidents and misunderstandings between Norway and Russia,” he added.
Norway’s delegation consisted, in addition to the chief of the Norwegian joint headquarters, of representatives from the Norwegian coast guard, the Norwegian border commissioner, and the Norwegian defence attache in Moscow.
Cooperation on the Norwegian-Russian border is based on a bilateral agreement dating from 1949. Fisheries cooperation between the two countries dates back to the 1970s.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
