Anniken Huitfeldt – Don’t be scared

NEW YORK (Dagbladet): This week Huitfeldt returned to UN headquarters in New York, just a couple of weeks after the UN summit. Although the autumn sun shines brightly on the city, there are very dark clouds over the world organization. Once again, Russia and the attack on Ukraine are the main topic.

Putin has threatened to use nuclear weapons and US President Joe Biden this week warned of the risk of “nuclear armageddon” if Russia takes the threat seriously.

It became a central topic when Huitfeldt also arranged a meeting this week with Biden’s National Security Advisor in the White House, Jake Sullivan, and Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.

Using fear

– We discussed how fear is now being used as a tool and that we shouldn’t be intimidated. We support Ukraine. It is also in our own interest. If we allow such measures to take hold, if we can attack the neighboring country and use military means to change the map, it will have important consequences for other parts of the world as well, Huitfeldt told Dagbladet.

He says Blinken was concerned about the energy situation in Europe and that defense and vigilance around Norwegian neighboring areas and oil and gas installations have been strengthened.

– Are we seeing Putin under pressure?

– Yes, Putin is cornered. We need to see these threats and this rhetoric in that perspective. On the ground, there are major setbacks for Russia. Ukrainians are regaining more and more territory, and so the rhetoric on Putin’s side increases in parallel, there are no signs that it is strengthening. On the contrary.

– Are there any signs that it is weakening internally in Russia?

– There are different assessments about it, but it is difficult for me to speculate on it now.

– Prepared for anything

– Biden recently spoke of the fear of a “nuclear armageddon”. How great is the danger of a nuclear war?

– We have to be prepared for everything. But we see no concrete steps now that Russia is starting to prepare its nuclear weapons. We have to deal with what is reality, says the foreign minister.

On Wednesday, news came that the Svalbard Tourism Council is expelling the Russian state-owned Trust Arktikugol. The Russians, for their part, have announced that they will take the tourism council to court. However, Huitfeldt rejects that we now see that the level of conflict with Russia is also increasing in Svalbard.

– No, it is the Norwegian laws and regulations that apply to that group of islands, and on a daily basis there is good communication between the governor and the Russian representatives in Barentsburg, says the foreign minister.

This week, the UN General Assembly votes a resolution condemning Russia’s attempt to annex four regions of Ukraine. The result is expected on Thursday evening.

Little support

The same proposal was presented to the Security Council last week. There, Russia has the right of veto and used it to block a decision. The question now is how many countries will actually vote with Russia on this issue.

In March, 141 of the 193 UN member states voted to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine. 35 countries abstained from voting, while four countries voted together with Russia against the resolution. The four were Syria, North Korea, Belarus and Eritrea.

– Russia has not made friends in the world since they started this brutal war. But they play a role in some conflicts with their narrative. So in some parts of the world there is greater understanding. But remember that the last time there was a vote at the United Nations, they only got the support of four countries. It’s exceptionally small, says Huitfeldt.

The resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not binding, but the vote is seen as a global test of the attitude of the international community towards the war in Ukraine.