The Russian authorities have revised their position on international cooperation in the Arctic: from the “Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the period up to 2035” by decree of President Vladimir Putin, the mention of two regional organizations – the Arctic Council and the Barents / Euro-Arctic Region Council – was removed. After the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the Western countries-members of these structures essentially declared a boycott of Russia. Now, Moscow is making it clear that it is not holding on to the previous formats of cooperation in the Arctic and is ready to develop cooperation with extra-regional powers.
In “Fundamentals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the period up to 2035” (approved May 5, 2020) introduced a number of important amendments. One of the key concerns the 16th paragraph, which lists “the main tasks in the development of international cooperation.” The previous version of subparagraph “a” of this section spoke of the need to “strengthen good neighborly relations with the Arctic states on a bilateral basis and within the framework of multilateral regional cooperation formats, including the Arctic Council, the economic, scientific and technological, cultural and cross-border cooperation, as well as interaction in the field of global climate change research, environmental protection and efficient development of natural resources in compliance with high environmental standards”.
By a new decree of Vladimir Putin, a number of changes have been made to this subparagraph.
It is now necessary to increase international economic, scientific, technological, cultural and border cooperation in the Arctic “taking into account the national interests of the Russian Federation.”
It is necessary to develop the natural resources of the Arctic not “in compliance with high environmental standards”, but “in the interests of sustainable development” of the region. And we are no longer talking about “strengthening good neighborly relations with the Arctic states”: instead, the decree speaks of “development of relations with foreign states on a bilateral basis within the framework of appropriate multilateral structures and mechanisms.” What structures and mechanisms are not specified in the new edition of the law. The mention of the Arctic Council and the Council of the Barents / Euro-Arctic Region was deleted from subparagraph “a”.
From the amendments made to the document, it can be concluded that Russia no longer considers it necessary to strengthen relations with other Arctic states, that is, with Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, the USA, Finland and Sweden, within the framework of established formats, such as the Arctic Council, which was previously often called the “shadow government of the Arctic”. Instead, Russia, by all appearances, wants to generally develop relations with interested countries, including, and perhaps above all, non-regional ones.
To clarify the meaning of the amendments, Kommersant sent a request to the Russian Foreign Ministry. They recalled that “at present, the full-fledged activities of the Arctic Council and the Council of the Barents / Euro-Arctic region have been suspended at the initiative of the Western member countries.” The amendments made to the law reflect, as the Foreign Ministry explained to Kommersant, “new realities.”
Recall that the decision to terminate cooperation with Russia within the framework of these two structures was made by their Western member countries shortly after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
On March 3, 2022, seven of the eight member states of the Arctic Council froze their interaction with the Russian Federation.
At the same time, it is Russia that has been the chair country of this regional organization since 2021. However, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, the USA, Finland and Sweden announced in their statement that they would not participate in any events under the chairmanship of the Russian Federation or on Russian territory, since Moscow violated the principles of international law, on which, among other things, activities of the Arctic Council: respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the position of the Western member countries of the Arctic Council “politicized and clearly irrational.”
On March 9, 2022, the members of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the European Union) announced the suspension of cooperation with Russia.
Justifying their decision, they also referred to “violation of the principles and goals of the organization by Russia.” The Russian Foreign Ministry then warned that this step “is fraught with undermining stability, an atmosphere of trust and good-neighborliness in the North of Europe, and leads to the curtailment of contacts between people that have been built for decades.”
In the comments of the Russian Foreign Ministry to Kommersant regarding the amendments to the “Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic”, it is said, “potentially these structures (the Arctic Council and the Council of the Barents / Euro-Arctic Region.— “uh”) still retain their importance for multilateral interaction at high latitudes.” “Until May, Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council continues with an emphasis on the implementation of national tasks. More than 40 events have been organized in priority areas of Arctic cooperation. The beginning of the Russian leadership in the Council of the Barents / Euro-Arctic Region is planned for October 2023,” the ministry said. And they emphasized: “The further fate of multilateral cooperation formats in the North, Russia’s presence in them depends on the ability of the Arctic states to find acceptable forms of continuing joint work in the interests of the entire region.”
So far, however, the prospects for continued joint work look vague.
On May 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a traditional ministerial meeting, should hand over the two-year chairmanship to the next country – Norway, and also hand over a wooden ceremonial hammer to his Norwegian counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt. However, most likely, none of the seven Western ministers will come to the ceremony in Salekhard (although some can connect online or delegate participation on the spot or via video link to lower-ranking officials).
Going forward, however, Oslo hopes to find a way to unfreeze the work of the Arctic Council. Morten Höglund, who is in charge of the Arctic Council at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, said this in a recent interview with the American publication Politico. “Work will not proceed as usual. We cannot have a normal type of political interaction with Russia,” he said. “However, we hope that we can find a way to start the work of the council at a lower level, at an expert level, at a technical level, at a project level, and so on.”
Now more than 130 projects within the framework of the Arctic Council are frozen.
Norway would like to restart at least some of them, especially in the area of climate change and biodiversity conservation. “We are discussing with everyone how to do it. We have to find something that suits everyone,” said Morten Höglund. Climate change in the Arctic is on average four times faster than elsewhere, he said. “We cannot wait until the political climate is perfect or wait for Russia to become a different country. We must find a mechanism to make the Arctic Council work,” the diplomat stressed.
In the meantime, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Kommersant that Russia “fixes the increased attention of non-regional countries to the Arctic” and “increases cooperation with them.” Previously, the member countries of the Arctic Council were jealous of the encroachment of states from other regions on the Arctic, which they considered their exclusive zone of influence. Non-regional countries, such as, for example, China and India, could only count on the role of observers at the council, while their rights and powers were very modest.
Now, against the background of the conflict over Ukraine and the freezing of the work of the Arctic Council, Russian officials are increasingly talking about the importance of cooperation in the Arctic with interested non-Arctic powers.
So, the other day, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that more than 200 experts, including delegates from China, India, Kazakhstan and other countries, scheduled for March 22-24 in Yakutsk, will attend a scientific and practical conference on climate change and permafrost thawing.
Earlier, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov announced the growing interest in the Arctic and cooperation in high latitudes with Russia from the member countries of the BRICS, SCO, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. “The current situation requires us to regroup, to switch to a wider range of methods and formats of international cooperation with those countries and organizations that share our approaches to the sustainable development of the region,” he said. At the same time, Nikolai Korchunov expressed the hope that Russia’s Western partners in the Arctic Council would realize “the futility of their course.” “Russia, as the country chairing the Arctic Council, is doing everything, despite all this, to keep the council, and adheres to a responsible approach to its work,” he assured.
The fact that Moscow is in no hurry to finally break with the Arctic Council is also evident from the presidential decree. From subparagraph “a” the mention of this organization was removed, but subparagraph “b” was not touched. And he assigns to the Arctic Council the role of “a key regional association coordinating international activities in the region.”
