The Arctic Council met in Reykjavik, Iceland yesterday and concluded with promises of cooperation on Arctic matters. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, addressing the meeting, reported that Russia is taking over the chairmanship of the council, made up of the nine countries whose territory extends into the Arctic region, and “intends to maintain the spirit of cooperation, strengthen constructive interaction among all the member states and reinforce our readiness to search for the best possible solutions for the Arctic and the people who live there.”
Lavrov also reported that Russia supports the idea of a summit of the Arctic nations when the conditions exist for it. “If this happens during Russia’s chairmanship, we will be ready to convene this summit,” he said. “In any case, a summit, if prepared properly, will be a major factor for outlining the long-term strategic goals of Arctic cooperation.” During his remarks, Lavrov stressed the Russian view that “cooperation is the only path towards prosperity in the Arctic.” He further said that “It is vitally important to extend the member states’ positive interaction experience to the military sphere as well, first of all through the relaunching of the multilateral dialogue of the Arctic states at the level of general staffs of their armed forces.” https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4738773
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken accused Russia of militarizing the Arctic–even though Russian military activities that Blinken was referring to are for the most part actually on Russian territory. “We’re committed to advancing a peaceful Arctic region where cooperation prevails on climate, the environment, science and safety and where sustainable economic development benefits the people of the region,” he said.
Lavrov replied to Blinken saying that “the problems associated with the escalation of military and political tensions due to deployment of foreign troops in Norway and the Baltic states remain,” during a press conference after the summit. As for military relations, he said in his statement to the Ministerial: “It is vitally important to extend the member states’ positive interaction experience to the military sphere as well, first of all through the relaunching of the multilateral dialogue of the Arctic states at the level of general staffs of their armed forces.” During the press conference, he explained how this dialogue had been withdrawn, especially since 2014. “The Arctic Council does not deal with ‘hard security’ issues, but it used to have a useful mechanism at the general staff level, which reviewed matters of maritime security, providing relief to natural disasters and industrial accidents, and search and rescue operations. We are in favor of restoring this practice,” he said.