Russia is ready to continue working with the Arctic Council based on its national interests, said Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Department of European Affairs at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"The only surviving format of multilateral cooperation in high latitudes, the Arctic Council, also deteriorated after Western states "froze" its full-fledged activities in March 2022. However, there is still some life remaining in it, and we are ready to work in this format based on our national interests. There is no doubt that Russia's presence in the North will continue to strengthen. And we are ready for mutually beneficial cooperation with new, including non-regional, partners," he said.
The diplomat recalled that the Russian Federation was forced to withdraw from the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Barents Sea Council/The Euro-Arctic region. In the Arctic, Western countries are increasingly striving not for cooperation, but for confrontation with the Russian Federation, he noted.
The Arctic Council includes eight Arctic states: Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
