The council’s activities were frozen in March 2022 due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Arctic Council resumed cooperation with Russia after a two-year hiatus due to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The activities of the council were frozen in March 2022. This was reported by the Finnish media Yle.
The Arctic Council decided earlier this year to allow the six Arctic Council working groups and their expert subgroups to hold virtual meetings, in which Russia will also participate. Petteri Vuorimäki, Ambassador for Arctic and Antarctic Affairs at the Finnish Foreign Ministry, said the remote meetings started in the spring and continued this summer.
“In these meetings, we are at the same table with Russian representatives, but only through virtual and technical capabilities. At the highest level, the meetings are not held even in the virtual dimension, at the level of the ambassador, the Arctic Council does not hold meetings,” said Vuorimäki.
According to Vuorimäki, in June 2022, projects were launched in which the presence of Russia was not preconceived, while in the fall of 2023 joint decision-making was already thought of, only in writing.
Finland gave the reason for continuing the meetings with Russia: solving climate problems requires the participation of all member countries of the Arctic Council, and Russia is the largest Arctic state.
Communicating in writing has been a bit of a problem for indigenous people due to limited resources, Vuorimäki added.
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Let’s recall that the member countries of the Danube Commission decided to exclude Russia because of its missile and drone attacks on the Lower Danube.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.