Chairman Russia Opposes Resumption of Arctic Council Without Its Participation... "Undermines Council's Consensus Principle"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] Russia has protested against the decision by Western member countries of the Arctic Council (AC), an Arctic regional intergovernmental forum established to discuss Arctic-related issues, to resume activities excluding Russia.

According to TASS news agency on the 9th (local time), Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, commented on the Western members' decision the previous day, stating, "Such a move raises concerns not only for Russia, the current chair of the Council, but also for the entire international community interested in the sustainable development of the Arctic region."

Ambassador Antonov said, "This sole intergovernmental cooperative body continues to be politicized," adding, "Decisions made in the name of the Arctic Council without Russia are illegitimate and violate the consensus principles stipulated in the Council's guiding documents."

He further pointed out, "It is fundamentally impossible to effectively address Arctic issues without Russia," explaining, "Because the Russian jurisdiction covers about 60% of the Arctic region, where more than half of the Arctic indigenous peoples live, and where over 70% of all economic activities in the high-latitude region take place."

Earlier, seven founding member countries of the AC?Canada, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United States?decided to suspend all activities of the Arctic Council due to Russia, a founding member of the organization. However, representatives of these seven countries reviewed the detailed operational guidelines of the Council to resume activities from March 4 and announced the resumption of the Council's activities excluding Russia the day before.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum established in 1996 to discuss policies related to the Arctic, aiming at environmental conservation and sustainable development of the Arctic region.

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