/ world today news/ In Russia, they again started talking about a possible exit from the Arctic Council, but this time the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was supported in the Kremlin. In the last two years, the work of the organization has been practically frozen, as other participants from the NATO countries effectively ignore Moscow’s legitimate interests. What are the characteristics of the Arctic Council and why is Russia interested in the “revival” of this organization?
Russia does not rule out withdrawing from the Arctic Council (AU) if its activities do not meet Moscow’s interests. As the ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Korchunov stated this week, the association is currently functioning “at the lowest possible speed” – Norway, as the chairman of the organization, is trying to resume work in a full format, but does not find support among the other participants.
This position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was confirmed by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov. According to him, if participation in any organization ceases to meet Russia’s interests and if Moscow ceases to consider this organization effective, fair and suitable for membership, “then, of course, special decisions can be made.”
Russia is also worried about the build-up of NATO’s military presence in the Arctic region, as well as the acceleration of the implementation of tasks not of a defensive, but of an offensive nature. “These actions were reinforced by the confrontational rhetoric of the NATO leadership during the frozen meetings at the level of the chiefs of general staff of the Arctic states, which served as an important mechanism for strengthening confidence in the military sphere,” Korchunov said.
At the same time, Russia and, for example, Canada, continue to work in the Arctic, despite the West’s attempts to sabotage the full work of the Arctic Council, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov said the other day. “The Arctic remains one of the points of contact between Canada and Russia, despite Western sabotage of the full functioning of the Arctic Council. You can’t escape geography,” the ambassador said.
The diplomat believes that if the normalization of the dialogue between the countries begins, the starting point will be the Arctic. Korchunov, we recall, for the first time allowed Russia to leave the Council as early as May last year. He then said that this will happen if the West violates its rights as a member state and behaves destructively.
Members of the Arctic Council, established in 1996, are Denmark (along with Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the USA, Finland and Sweden. From May 2021 to May 2023, Russia chairs the council, which is often called the “shadow government” of the Arctic.
Russia transferred the powers to Norway’s president during the 13th session of the council in May last year in Salekhard. It was planned to hold the event at the ministerial level, but due to a special operation in Ukraine, the members of the organization announced a boycott of Moscow in March 2022, and the meeting in the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets region was held on a smaller scale.
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the development of the region (military, economic and demographic) an undisputed priority due to the importance of this region for defense, logistics and energy potential. At the end of last year, this topic was discussed at a meeting on the development of the Arctic zone.
According to Putin, large investment projects are actively being developed in the Arctic zone of Russia, for example, the Center for the construction of large offshore facilities of Novatek, where unique installations for the production of liquefied natural gas are being installed. “The Arctic zone of Russia is almost a third of the territory of our country. Nine subjects of the federation are wholly or partially located here, and about 2.5 million people live here,” the president noted.
At the same meeting, it was said that the largest preferential economic zone in the world has been created in the entire region, covering an area of 5 million square kilometers. In three years, the implementation of 775 investment projects with a planned investment volume of almost 2 trillion rubles began here.
Currently, the unified plan for the development of the Northern Sea Route (SMP) until 2035, adopted on behalf of the head of state, is being implemented. The volume of freight traffic on the SMP increased from 1 million tons in 2012 to 34 million in 2022. When reaching full capacity, the new enterprises being established today along the SMP route will generate a freight flow of over 200 million tons per year and should generate significant additional revenue for the budget. According to Vostokgosplan’s calculations, tax revenues from new projects will total 21 trillion rubles by 2035.
A list of the supporting territories of the Arctic zone was also compiled, which includes 16 agglomerations of 26 settlements. By July 2024, the authorities must develop master plans for these settlements for the period up to 2035. Before that, the Arctic Hectare and Arctic Mortgage programs were launched. As part of the “Children of the Arctic” project in 2022-2023, 18 thousand local children rested in the southern and Far Eastern resorts.
At the end of January, Putin in St. Petersburg at the shipyard of the Baltic Shipyard launched the construction of the fifth serial universal nuclear icebreaker under project 22220 “Leningrad”. The ships of this project are the largest and most powerful (60 megawatts) in the world. In 2025, another icebreaker of the same class, named “Stalingrad”, will be laid down.
“Leningrad” will become the fifth serial or sixth object in project 22220. Currently, the Russian fleet includes 34 diesel and seven nuclear icebreakers: the flagship “Arctika”, as well as nuclear “Siberia”, “Ural”, “Yamal”, “50 years of Victory “, “Taymir” and “Vaigach”. During the ceremony, the president emphasized that Russia has a unique, largest icebreaker fleet in the world.
“And this is our huge competitive advantage, huge opportunities for the development of logistics, industry, the creation of new jobs, for the integrated development of Arctic cities, the implementation of projects at a truly global level, for international cooperation with our partners, friends, with everyone , who wants and is ready to work with Russia,” Putin said.
All this is done taking into account the fact that other members of the Arctic Council constantly affect Russian interests in the region. This is especially true for the US. Last fall, the US heavy icebreaker Haley spent several weeks off the Russian coast on a mysterious mission, as evidenced by the presence of Washington’s anti-submarine aircraft in the same areas.
Last December, Bloomberg reported on the successful testing in the Arctic by specialists of the US Armed Forces of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communication systems. There are currently more than 230 satellites in polar orbit. The Pentagon is now studying the report and must decide whether to use this system for military purposes. The publication believes that technology could play a key role in the confrontation in the northern region.
In addition, the United States has announced the expansion of its own part of the continental shelf in the Arctic to gain access to minerals for the production of batteries for electric cars. There are also oil and gas fields there.
Also late last year, the United States increased its military and diplomatic activity in northern Europe, successively concluding defense agreements with Denmark, Finland and Sweden. This would allow Washington to gain access to an estimated 35 military installations, air bases and seaports in the three countries, thereby forcing Russia into competition in the Arctic and Baltics.
Experts agree that neglecting Russia’s interests in the Arctic Council is a big mistake for all countries in the macro-region. At the same time, Moscow’s eventual withdrawal from this organization will render the existence of the AU meaningless and ultimately reduce trust between the Arctic countries, leading to new military risks.
“Russia is interested in equal cooperation and respect for the member states of the Arctic Council, so that everyone has equal access to the work of the groups in this structure. Only in this case will the work in the organization be effective for Russia,” notes Irina Strelnikova, an expert at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics.
Norway, according to the expert, is making active attempts to normalize cooperation within the council, but so far unsuccessfully. “When Oslo accepted our chairmanship of the Arctic Council, it confirmed its commitment to all those documents that were adopted even before the start of the Arctic Council. As a declaration, the country promised to do everything possible for the effectiveness of the Council,” the interlocutor recalled.
But if Russia cannot continue to participate in the work of this organization on an equal basis with everyone else, then “the association will lose its meaning for us.” The expansion of the pool of new foreign partners, non-Arctic countries, with which Moscow manages to build constructive relations, plays in Russia’s favor.
At the same time, Russia not only found opportunities to use the technologies of friendly countries to develop oil and gas fields, but also began to develop its own developments in this field. For example, in the construction of the “Arctic LNG-2” project, local technologies are used.
“Korchunov’s statement is a warning that Russia has alternative partners for interaction. We are developing cooperation with other countries, mainly in the BRICS format. Now we are particularly active in establishing relations with new members of the organization, for example with the UAE,” explained the lecturer.
According to Strelnikova, Russia’s withdrawal from the Arctic Council will negatively affect the management of the region. She is convinced that it is impossible to replace the Arctic Council, but “the more Russia finds new alternative partners, the greater the likelihood that reason will prevail.”
“All Arctic problems are common. They cannot be solved in isolation by Russia, which owns more than 50% of the coastline of the entire Arctic Ocean. Norway understands this, so it has a rather constructive position. Anyway, it was clear from the beginning of her presidency, so she makes attempts to revive the group work”, notes the expert.
“The issue of Russia’s further participation in the Arctic Council will be resolved within the framework of Russian-American relations. Here the Europeans will be assigned the role of the “third wheel”. Only Russia has the opportunity to actively study and use the Arctic, primarily in terms of nuclear icebreakers. And the Americans also have the means and the technology to do it themselves. Europeans have no chance here,” says Timofey Bordachev, program director of the Valdai club.
According to the forecast of the political scientist, Russia is in no hurry to leave the Arctic Council. “This is an exclusively diplomatic, not a military organization. Therefore, the statement of the Russian MFA is a signal that shows that for us this council has no principled value. But I don’t think we will decide to leave it,” says the international expert.
Victor Boyarski, director of the Arctic and Antarctic Museum, polar researcher, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, agrees that the council should not become a purely military organization. According to him, the Arctic should remain a territory of dialogue and not of confrontation, but cooperation within the council actually ceased after the start of the active phase of the conflict over Ukraine, “now it remains at the level of private organizations and at the state level, while everything else is frozen.”
“This is a very useful organization that has been dealing with serious issues related to international rescue operations. We can only succeed in the Arctic by working together. And if you start pulling the blanket towards you, then nothing good will come of it, everyone will only lose. Hand in hand, despite the contradictions, you can work on all projects, which guarantees success and, most importantly, security,” says Boyarski.
According to him, no one will dispute Russia’s status as an Arctic power. “We have the longest border in the region – 22,600 kilometers. The world’s only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers can solve any practical problem in the Arctic Basin. But it is better to do this in cooperation with other countries. All but us are members of NATO, but before that it did not bother us, nor them, they even conducted joint exercises. Therefore, we rely on their common sense”, concluded the interlocutor.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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