ST. PETERSBURG, April 9./TASS/. There is no military tension in the Arctic, though NATO conducts major military drills in the region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in reply to a question at the international Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg.

"I don’t see any specific military tension in the Arctic, it is absent there," the Russian leader said in reply to the moderator. He added, however, that NATO has conducted major military exercises in that region, while Russia never holds exercises of this scope in the Arctic.

"We did hold major exercises, but it was far away from NATO’s zone of responsibility, it was in the east," Putin said, adding that Russia always invites foreign observers to its military drills.