General Eirik Kristoffersen, head of Norway's Armed Forces, poses for a picture at his office in Oslo, Norway, September 26, 2022.
REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Russian forces stationed in the Arctic near Norway are "20% or less" of the number they were before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Norway's chief of defence said on Saturday.
"On our border, on the Russian border, there is maybe 20% or less (Russian) forces left than it used to be before Feb. 24, 2022," he told a press conference.
"If he believed that we were threatening Russia, he couldn't have moved on his troops to Ukraine to fight the war there."
Finland and Russia share a 1,300 km (810 miles) border, with Russian troops along that zone, as with Norway, below the numbers they were before the war.
Persons:
Eirik Kristoffersen, Gwladys, Vladimir Putin, couldn't, Rob Bauer, Finland, Bauer, Gwladys Fouche, Sabine Siebold, Nick Macfie
Organizations:
Norway's Armed Forces, REUTERS, Rights, NATO, Russian, Thomson
Locations:
Oslo, Norway, Rights OSLO, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Northern, Finland, Berlin