(tass.ru) - The Russian side expresses the hope that Western countries will soon realize the futility of their course towards the Arctic Council and is doing everything possible to preserve this organization, according to Nikolai Korchunov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Senior Officials Committee of the Arctic Council, who stated that on Thursday at the VIII International Conference "Arctic 2023".
"We hope that the Western partners in the Arctic Council will soon realize the futility of this course. Russia, as the country chairing the Arctic Council, is doing everything, despite all this, to preserve the Arctic Council and adheres to a responsible approach to its work," he said.
The diplomat stressed that the Russian Federation is pursuing a multi-vector political course in the Arctic region and "is open to dialogue with all states that are constructively inclined towards interaction," including non-Arctic ones that share Russian approaches to the sustainable development of the Arctic.
The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental organization of the Arctic states. Its members are Russia, Denmark (together with Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, the USA, Finland and Sweden. In 2021, when the 25th anniversary of the association was celebrated, the two-year chairmanship in it passed from Iceland to the Russian Federation. In March 2022, Western countries froze cooperation within the Arctic Council due to the events in Ukraine, however, as Korchunov emphasized, Russia is successfully implementing its chairmanship program without them.
"We hope that the Western partners in the Arctic Council will soon realize the futility of this course. Russia, as the country chairing the Arctic Council, is doing everything, despite all this, to preserve the Arctic Council and adheres to a responsible approach to its work," he said.
The diplomat stressed that the Russian Federation is pursuing a multi-vector political course in the Arctic region and "is open to dialogue with all states that are constructively inclined towards interaction," including non-Arctic ones that share Russian approaches to the sustainable development of the Arctic.
The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental organization of the Arctic states. Its members are Russia, Denmark (together with Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, the USA, Finland and Sweden. In 2021, when the 25th anniversary of the association was celebrated, the two-year chairmanship in it passed from Iceland to the Russian Federation. In March 2022, Western countries froze cooperation within the Arctic Council due to the events in Ukraine, however, as Korchunov emphasized, Russia is successfully implementing its chairmanship program without them.
