HELSINKI (Reuters) -Russia accused Norway of militarising the Svalbard archipelago, a claim Norway denied in a comment to news agency NTB after Russia on Friday had summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Moscow over the matter.
"Moscow called on the Norwegian side to renounce any activity that undermines the international legal foundations of the archipelago's regime," a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
It added such activity could lead to escalating tension or increase conflict potential in the Spitsbergen territory.
Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson denied the claim.
"Svalbard is part of Norway and part of NATO. Norwegian authorities obviously act in accordance with the Svalbard Treaty," Ministry press officer Mathias Rongved told NTB.
Spitsbergen is the largest island in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago, located roughly halfway between the North Pole and the European mainland.
Svalbard is governed under a 1920 treaty giving Norway sovereignty but allowing citizens of signatory states to settle there without a Norwegian visa.
The treaty restricts the military uses of the archipelago, but the islands are not a demilitarised zone.
There are two Russian settlements on the island, Barentsburg and Pyramiden, with some 340 residents currently, out of a total population of 2,945, according to Statistics Norway.
Norway is NATO's monitor for the vast 2 million square kilometre area of the North Atlantic used by the Russian northern fleet's nuclear submarines. The area Norway monitors includes the waters between Svalbard and the mainland.
Russia has in the past accused Norway of militarising Svalbard.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Essi Lehto, editing by Alex Richardson and Diane Craft)
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