Stockholm, Feb. 23.
The situation in the far north has become sharply aggravated, and dramatic events may be expected at any moment, as a result of the sudden appearance of British naval units in the neighbourhood of Petsamo, on the Arctic coast of Finland, according to the Moscow correspondent of tne Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet."
The British action is said to have caused great uneasiness in the Soviet capital, and the whole of the Soviet Fleet in the Arctic ocean, the correspondent adds, is prepared for action.
The Soviet Government, it is stated in Moscow, would not take any action against Great Britain so long as the British fleet moves outside Russian territorial limits, which are closely watched by Red naval units, but immediately the British entered Russian waters, the Red Navy would start operations. Similarly, the correspondent adds, a conflict might occur if the British were to sink any Russian merchantmen.
It is not believed, however, that the British warships will undertake any operations against the Soviets. It is thought in Moscow that the aim of the British warships is to hinder tra between Germany and Russia v. Murmansk.
On February 20, the Italian press reported the presence of British cruisers near Petsamo, and the "Avvenire d'Italia" asked what were the intentions of the British Admiralty.
Petsamo is near where German ships enter into a long passage of Norwegian waters—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.