Finland's Arctic ambassador Petteri Vuorimäki says that Russia's departure from the Council would be a regrettable decision.
Russia could leave the Arctic Council. The possibility of a resignation is hinted at by the special representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Korchunov Russian media Ria Novosti in an interview on Tuesday.
“We start from the fact that we must have all foreign policy options at our disposal, including resigning from the Arctic Council if its actions do not correspond to Russia's interests,” says Korchunov in an interview with Ria Novosti.
According to Korchunov, the council now works “with the smallest rounds”. Kortsunov claims in the interview that the Norwegian presidency is trying to revive the council's activities, but does not get support from the other council members.
Founded in 1996.
Arctic the largest cooperation forum in the region. Collaborates in matters concerning, for example, the indigenous peoples of the Arctic region, the environment and the climate.
Eight member countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
Russia held the presidency of the Council until spring 2023, when the presidency was transferred to Norway. Each member country of the Arctic Council heads the council in turn.
Finland arctic ambassador Petteri Vuorimäki says that leaving the Arctic Council would be Russia's own decision and a regrettable one.
Vuorimäki points out that there are only eight Arctic states in the world. The Arctic Council has so far been the place where these countries have gathered.
Russia's departure would leave seven other countries wondering what to do next. It is not known how the departure of Russia would affect cooperation or, for example, research in the Arctic regions.
“Then we are in such a new situation, where seven states have to think about how to move forward,” says Vuorimäki.
Arctic the council suspended its activities in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In June 2022, the Council announced that it would restart the projects in which Russia was not originally involved.
Vuorimäki says that right now the Arctic Council's decision-making has been restarted in working groups, but only as a written procedure. The working groups therefore do not meet at all.
Mountain hill describes the Arctic region as “of utmost importance”. Russia's share of the area is almost half.
The climate is warming most strongly in the arctic region, and according to Vuorimäki, it will mean “terrible changes”.
“What happens in the Arctic region has a direct impact on the entire Earth.”
The melting of the ice sheets can enable new sea routes. According to Vuorimäki, business opportunities are seen in the Arctic region's natural resources, including rare earth metals.
There are indigenous peoples in the Arctic region. Vuorimäki says that the tense security political situation has also increased the importance of the Arctic region.
Russia withdrew from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in September. Russia blamed Finland and other council member countries for leaving.
Program director of the Foreign Policy Institute Harri Mikkola evaluate at that time, that Russia is trying to protect the remnants of its influence in Arctic cooperation in the Arctic Council, which is much more important to Russia.
Mikkola now says that he does not see how leaving the Arctic Council would serve Russia's interests. According to him, threatening to resign, on the other hand, serves.
The Barents Euro-Arctic Council is a regional cooperation mechanism, in which cooperation with Russia was frozen as early as March 2022. Leaving the Council was so easy for Russia.
The Arctic Council, on the other hand, according to Mikkola, is the most significant intergovernmental forum that affects the development of the Arctic region.
If Russia, which is one of the founding members of the Arctic Council, would leave the council, the operation would continue as a cooperation forum for Western countries, the nature of which would be different, says Mikkola.
The Arctic Council has tried to operate outside of superpower disputes.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the activities of the Arctic Council have been continued in working groups. According to Mikkola, it says that the activity has been wanted to be maintained in the hope that when the war in Ukraine ends, Arctic cooperation can be a way to improve relations between states.
“Russia understands this and, of course, threatens that this channel will also be closed and Arctic cooperation will be crippled.”
In Western countries, according to Mikkola, Russia's departure from the Council would raise concerns that the country would turn even more in the direction of China, in which case China would gain a foothold in the Arctic region.
#Arctic #cooperation #Russia #leave #Arctic #Council #official #Ministry #Foreign #Affairs
