"So just sending B-52s over the Baltic was something that had to be cleared at a pretty high level," Townsend said, adding that there has always been recognition of not wanting to provoke Russia by sending bombers close to its borders. "For whatever reason, the feeling must've been that was worth doing this time around."
Skaluba also pointed to a recent speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a meeting of the Arctic Council, in which Pompeo said the Arctic had "become an arena of global power and competition."
Within the eight-member Arctic Council, which includes Russia, "there's still a lot of practical cooperation ... but I'm sure it's not a coincidence that Pompeo got everybody a little bit upset ... talking about [how] we need to talk security issues, and then the US sends some big-time military assets up into the region."
"So I think this a bit of a banging of the drum or pounding on the table from the US that we need to think about the Arctic in security terms, and on our own we're going to do that, no matter what anybody else does. But it's a clear signal to the Russians and the Chinese, no doubt."