Le Figaro Magazine
Russia has decided to freeze its financial contributions to the Arctic Council.
It was through a press release to the Ria Novosti agency that the government indicated its desire to no longer pay the bill
“as long as work does not resume in good conditions with all the members of the council.
»
If the Kremlin spokesperson suggested that a total withdrawal from this intergovernmental forum by Russia was possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that this option was not yet considered.
In March 2022, a month after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sergei Lavrov invited representatives of member states to a summit in Salekhard, Siberia – none responded.
Created in 1996, the Arctic Council brings together the eight states with territories in the far north: Canada, Denmark (and therefore Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States.
The presidency of the board changes every two years.
You must not close the doors and throw away the keys
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Prime Minister
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre believes “
that we should not close the doors and throw away the keys”,
hoping that one day
“we will all be gathered around the Arctic table again.
»
But other Western countries do not share this openness and fear that maintaining cooperation with Russia could legitimize Russia's aggression on Ukraine.
Problem: almost half of the Arctic land is in Russia, and Oslo believes that the lack of contact could harm scientific research, particularly with regard to the exchange of climate data.
Since the Rovaniemi process on environmental cooperation, signed in 1991 a few years before the creation of the Arctic Council, Russian research institutions have been associated with Western partners.
Norway, currently in the presidency, says it wants to maintain cooperation at the current level.
A decision that could change when Denmark takes over leadership of the council in 2025.
Unlike Antarctica, a protected continent where only unrecognized territorial claims are made, the Arctic has been a point of tension between the great powers that share it since the middle of the 20th century.