German Defence Minister visits border with Russia during his trip to Norway

Boris Pistorius, German Defence Minister, has visited the city of Kirkenes in northern Norway to learn about the situation on the Russian border.

As reported by n-tv, the Norwegian city is located just a few kilometres from the border with the Russian Federation.

Pistorius intended to visit a border post guarded by conscripts. By 2022, when Russia launched a massive offensive against Ukraine, there was a lot of border traffic and visa-free travelling in the region.

Murmansk is the nearest Russian city on the other side of the border, and it houses the headquarters of the Northern Fleet, which is strategically important to Russia and includes  nuclear submarines.

Norway shares a 198-kilometre border with Russia in the far north.

The only official border crossing point is the Storskog station.

On the eve of his arrival in Sweden, Pistorius became acquainted with the military service model that can be later used in Germany.

During the visit, Pistorius also stated that French President Emmanuel Macron's call to Ukraine's allies "not to be cowards" does not help to resolve the issues surrounding military support for Ukraine.

He also stated that no political decision to deploy Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine had been made.