"Illusory isolation of Russia": how the Arctic Council intends to continue its work without the participation of the Russian Federation

Decisions made within the framework of the Arctic Council without the participation of Russia will be deprived of legitimacy.

This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.

He added that Moscow was concerned about plans to resume the work of the council without her.

“Such a step cannot but cause concern not only for Russia as the current chairman of the council, but also for the entire international community interested in the further sustainable development of this region.

We state that this unique format of interstate interaction continues to be politicized.

Decisions on behalf of the Arctic Council, taken without our country, will be illegitimate and violate the principle of consensus provided for by its governing documents,” Antonov said.

The diplomat expressed confidence that it would be impossible to resolve the problems of the Far North without the involvement of Russia.

“The reason is obvious: in the Russian part of the Arctic, which occupies about 60% of the entire territory of the region, more than half of the indigenous population of the Arctic lives.

More than 70% of all economic activity in high latitudes is carried out,” Antonov explained.

Useless Formats

Recall that the Arctic Council, established in 1996, unites Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland.

The purpose of the creation of this organization is cooperation in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development of the polar regions.

However, on March 3, the work of the council was stopped: the rest of the organization justified this by a special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

At the same time, the day before, a joint statement of the countries participating in the council was published on the website of the State Department, which announced the decision to resume its work without the participation of Russia.

• Sergey Lavrov at the site of the Arctic Council

• Legion Media

• © Seeliger

“We intend to make a limited resumption of our work in the Arctic Council in projects that do not involve the participation of the Russian Federation.

These projects, contained in the work plan endorsed by all eight Arctic states at the ministerial meeting in Reykjavik, are a vital component of our responsibility to Arctic communities, including Indigenous Peoples,” the statement said.

At the same time, it noted that other members of the organization support it and "remain convinced of the enduring value of the Arctic Council for polar cooperation."

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large and Chairman of the Council's Committee of Senior Officials Nikolai Korchunov warned that the shutdown of the organization jeopardized security in the Arctic.

“Since March, the activities of the Arctic Council, including project activities, have actually stopped.

The current pause will inevitably lead to the fact that the risks and challenges of soft security in the Arctic will increase.

This decision is fraught with negative consequences, including for the well-being of the population of the Arctic, including indigenous peoples,” the diplomat stressed.

According to him, the early resumption of the work of the Arctic Council in full format is in the interests of not only the Arctic states, but the entire international community.

“Russia expresses its readiness to resume dialogue in high latitudes,” the ambassador stressed.

It is worth noting that doubts have arisen in the expert community about the effectiveness of the work of the Arctic Council without the participation of Russia.

Thus, the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) noted back in May that the rest of the organization’s members plan to “radically rebuild the system of Arctic governance by forming a new international structure without Russia, known as Nordic Plus.”

However, there will be little benefit from such a format, the organization believes.

“With a commonality of values ​​and governance norms, Nordic Plus would be deprived of the institutional legitimacy and progress developed within the framework of the Arctic Council.

In addition, the existence of such an organization without the participation of Moscow seems to be of little use, ”the material published on the CFR official website says.

The organization recalled that "Russia accounts for almost half of the population of the Arctic, more than half of its coast and most of the industry."

“In the Arctic, Russia also holds the lead in energy production, fishing and cargo transportation,” CFR emphasizes.

"Interest club"

Experts interviewed by RT believe that without Russian participation, the Arctic Council will, in fact, turn into a different organization.

“First and most importantly, if its work is resumed without the participation of Russia, then it will no longer be the Arctic Council.

Secondly, we must keep in mind that the council is not only representatives of the participating states, but also of organizations of indigenous peoples.

There are also a dozen and a half observer countries and quite a few intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations that take part in its work.

It is possible to restart its work without Russia, but it will be a completely different institution, ”Oleg Alexandrov, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at MGIMO, emphasized in an interview with RT.

• Russian icebreaker in the Arctic

• globallookpress.com

• © Rosatom

He recalled that the decisions that are made on the problems of the Arctic within the framework of the council are agreed upon by consensus, that is, they meet the interests of all participants.

“The issues of the Arctic are dealt with by many countries that are members of various blocs, for example, NATO and EU member states.

In principle, they can cooperate bypassing Russia, but given its share and role in this region, they will soon realize that such cooperation will not be effective without Moscow, ”says Alexandrov.

The expert clarified that if the members of the council begin to make any decisions within its framework without Russia, this will automatically mean a lack of consensus.

“If any decisions are developed and approved without taking into account the interests of the largest participant in these processes, then their value will be low.

The rest of the participants will decide their national issues, but this has nothing to do with the work of the Arctic Council,” the analyst explained.

In an interview with RT, Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, member of the Russian Civic Chamber, called the decision to resume the work of the council without the Russian Federation "the most politicized" because "Russia controls the longest Arctic zone, and most of this region belongs to the exclusive economic and the political sphere of the Russian Federation.

“All decisions that will be made within the framework of the “renewed” Arctic Council will be deprived of legitimacy, as they contradict the main documents, according to which such activities can only be carried out on the basis of full consensus.

And most importantly, there is no tool to suspend membership and deprive the Russian Federation of the right to participate in meetings of the Arctic Council.

In other words, this is yet another violation of the legal norms of treaties, which the West is ready to go for with the sole purpose of building an illusory isolation of Russia, ”says Danyuk.

From his point of view, Russia has every right not to be guided by the decisions that will be taken in the format of the Arctic Council without its participation.

“The problem is that this institute was built for quite a long time, its activity was quite fruitful.

Within the framework of the Arctic Council, it was possible to reach a consensus so that mutual interests were always more important than existing contradictions,” Danyuk explained.

The analyst believes that if we talk about international activities on the Arctic issues as a whole, then it is impossible to make a single important decision in this area without the participation of Russia.

“Based on this, further decisions made in this format will lead to the fact that the Arctic Council will no longer be perceived as legitimate.

His verdicts will absolutely not affect anything, it will be a “club of interests”, and the main interest is to annoy Russia as much as possible, because without its participation, international cooperation, especially in the Arctic, does not seem real, ”concluded the expert.