According to State Department Adviser Derek Scholle, the United States Administration intends to resume work on projects through the Arctic Council that do not involve the participation of the Russian Federation.WASHINGTON, February 15.
/tass/. Russia plays an important role in the Arctic, but the United States currently does not see an opportunity for cooperation with it in the region due to the Russian Federation conducting a special military operation in Ukraine. This was announced on Wednesday by State Department Adviser Derek Scholle at a conference at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
"It is an important Arctic power, but Moscow's decision to invade a neighboring independent and sovereign state has made cooperation [in the Arctic] virtually impossible in the foreseeable future," he said.
At the same time, Scholle pointed out that the United States was concerned about the actions of the Russian Federation in this region even before the start of its military operation, since Moscow "began an aggressive program to remilitarize the Arctic," including through the construction of military bases and increasing its icebreaker fleet.
In addition, the representative of the State Department said that Washington is concerned about China's increasing involvement in the Arctic, as well as cooperation between Moscow and Beijing here. "This is of concern to the United States, as well as to our allies and partners in this region and beyond," Scholle said.
According to him, the United States Administration intends to resume work on projects through the Arctic Council (AU), which do not involve Russia. According to him, the conduct of a special military operation by the Russian Federation in Ukraine "seriously damaged international cooperation in the scientific field concerning the Arctic." "Unfortunately, we do not expect Russia to change its course of action in the near future. Adapting to the new conditions imposed on us by Moscow, we are resuming projects of the Arctic Council that are not related to Russia," he argued.
According to Scholle, the United States is "working with Norway and other like-minded countries" to determine what "further actions" will be. The State Department adviser stressed that the United States is increasing "cooperation with like-minded Arctic states in the fields of security, science, development of natural resources and ecology."
In the spring of 2022, Western states decided to refuse to participate in the activities of the working bodies of the AU during the presidency of Russia in connection with its special operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the West's decision on the AU as "politicized and clearly irrational." It "makes it difficult to work together within the framework of the Council for the development of regional cooperation in the interests of all Arctic residents, including indigenous peoples, to ensure sustainable socio-economic development of the region, adaptation to climate change, implementation of programs for the study and protection of the environment, as well as joint actions in the field of biodiversity conservation," the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted. According to her, this area of international cooperation has never been a hostage to the geopolitical conjuncture.
The chairmanship of the AU for the period 2021-2023 passed from Iceland to Russia in May. The AU consists of Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the USA, Finland and Sweden.
