The United States has opened its northernmost diplomatic station, which will not provide consular services.

In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening of the American outpost in Tromsø, northern Norway, and said that it was an opportunity for the US to have “a diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle.”

Tromsø is the largest city in Arctic Norway, located 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the west of Russia. Norway and Russia have a common border in the Arctic.

Washington had a diplomatic mission in the city during the Cold War, which closed in 1994.

The city is also the residence of the Arctic Council, a polar body that comprises eight Arctic states: Russia, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and the United States.