BERLIN, March 7. /TASS/. Germany plans to expand its presence in the Arctic, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.

He described NATO’s Nordic Response drills involving Finland and Sweden as the alliance’s most important exercise in the past 40 years.

Germany, in his words, is strengthening cooperation with Norway and its new NATO partners - Finland and Sweden. "We simply want to have a bigger presence here, in the Extreme North," DPA quoted him as saying while visiting Norway, which is hosting the Nordic Response 2024 drills. "These are the largest and most important NATO drills in at least 40 years," he said.

On Wednesday, the German defense minister visited a Norwegian military base near the border with Russia and said that it would right to expand Bundeswehr presence in the Arctic, although the world is now focused on Ukraine and the Middle East.

About 1,500 German troops are taking part in the Nordic Response 2024 drills that kicked off on March 7. Finland’s air forces said earlier that more than 100 warplanes from Finland, Sweden, Norway and other NATO member countries would take part.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Russia will closely follow the drills.