Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov, in an interview with RIA Novosti, spoke about cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic, assessed NATO's policy in the region, provided data on the volume of cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, and also answered the question whether the melting of ice could affect the law of the Russian Federation for special regulation of navigation in this zone.
According to Korchunov, cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic is exclusively peaceful, non-military in nature. First of all, we are talking about cooperation in the economic, investment, scientific and technical, scientific and educational fields.
As an observer of the Arctic Council, China actively cooperates in the trade and economic field with other Arctic countries, including the USA, Canada, Denmark. At the same time, the volume of investment cooperation between Beijing and these countries in a number of areas exceeds the indicators of its cooperation with Russia in the Arctic, the ambassador said.
Beijing, unlike the NATO countries, traditionally adheres to the policy of military restraint in the Arctic. According to Korchunov, the PRC does not conduct military exercises in the Arctic region, which cannot be said about the non-Arctic members of the alliance, for example, the United Kingdom, whose military presence in high latitudes is sometimes clearly provocative and increases military tensions there.
The inclusion of the Arctic in the NATO zone of interests only complicates the military-political situation in this region, increases the degree of conflict, and creates serious challenges for other countries, including Russia, in high latitudes, the diplomat said.
According to him, significantly inferior to the United States and NATO in general in terms of the number of military facilities in the Arctic, Russia is only restoring the military infrastructure in the North, lost after the collapse of the USSR. At the same time, Moscow adheres to its obligations to preserve the Arctic as a territory of low military tension, shows restraint and does not deploy foreign contingents in its Arctic zone.
As for the prevention of threats to civilian shipping in the waters of the Northern Sea Route due to possible NATO activity in the Arctic, Korchunov assured that Russia is taking all necessary measures along the military line that take into account the increased activity of NATO in the Arctic in recent years and make it possible to prevent threats to civilian shipping in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.
Speaking about Moscow's attitude to the US initiative to establish the post of Ambassador-at-large for the Arctic to promote Washington's interests in the region, the diplomat said that Russia, for its part, expresses readiness for constructive contacts with representatives of all Arctic countries, including the United States, in the interests of maintaining low military and political tensions and ensuring sustainable development of the Arctic region.
Answering the question whether there is an understanding when the main directorate of the Northern Sea Route will be created to organize traffic along this route, the ambassador said that the Government of the Russian Federation has approved plans to create the main directorate of the Northern Sea Route, as announced by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin on August 1, 2022.
Currently, the process of forming this structure is underway. Its founder is the Rosatom State Corporation, which should be contacted for clarification of specific deadlines and other details, Korchunov pointed out.
Speaking about the volume of cargo transportation along the Northern Sea Route, he said that the trend for increasing cargo traffic has been observed for several years. In 2021, the volume of traffic reached a record, exceeding 33.5 million tons. More than 22 million tons were transported in the first half of 2022. The necessary measures are being taken to further increase these volumes.
As for Russia's negotiations with foreign entrepreneurs on new projects, in particular on the creation of a unified transit system for container transportation along the Northern Sea Route, the ambassador said that many states are interested in developing cooperation with the Russian Federation.
Such interaction plays an important role in the context of ensuring the smooth functioning of the entire global economy. The importance of diversifying sea routes in this case does not require proof, which is confirmed, in particular, by the incident with the blocking of the Suez Canal in March 2021 by the cargo tanker Ever Given, which caused a multi-day collapse of sea transportation, the ambassador said.
He noted that in the work on the development of the Northern Sea Route and Arctic shipping in general, Russia remains open to cooperation with all states that adhere to a constructive approach to interaction with our country, including non-regional ones.
Speaking about whether warming in the Arctic region can create new problems on the Northern Sea Route and whether the melting of ice can lead to Russia losing the right to special regulation of navigation in the Northern Sea Route zone, the Ambassador said that climate change, including the degradation of the ice cover, is becoming an everyday reality.
At the same time, as the ice melts, new opportunities for navigation open up, which previously remained inaccessible due to unprofitability and high safety risks. According to the diplomat, Russia's rights to regulate navigation along the routes of the Northern Sea Route are based on a solid international legal foundation. The process of melting ice does not in any way affect the rights and obligations of the Russian Federation as the largest Arctic state, Korchunov pointed out.
Answering the question whether Russia continues to cooperate with the countries of the Arctic region on climate and ecology issues against the background of the anti-Russian course of the leadership of a number of Western countries, the ambassador recalled that, reacting to the well-known demarche of other Arctic countries in March this year, Russia suspended cooperation with them in these areas.
Russia, as the current chairman of the Arctic Council, Korchunov said, is not satisfied with the state of affairs in which the decisions of the 2021 ministerial session of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik are not being implemented. This has a negative impact on projects aimed at preserving the fragile Arctic ecosystem, developing scientific and regional cooperation, and improving the well-being of residents of the entire Arctic region, including indigenous peoples, the ambassador said.
As for the recovery of flooded radioactive objects from the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, according to Korchunov, the issue of foreign countries' participation in these projects is not currently being discussed.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
