The 14th Arctic Council Session

First place Landscapes photo by: Karli Zschogner: In connection with the launch of the second edition of Pathways, the Arctic Council Magazine, the Council hosted a photo contest, inviting people across the Arctic and beyond to share what the Arctic looks like through their lens.

Several Gym members expressed interest in what’s happening up North with the Arctic Council given the hostility towards Russia. It’s still alive and in better health than most assume primarily because of the power Russia exerts—hard and soft—in the Arctic. Today two items were published by the MFA, a PR about the session and the speech delivered by Russia’s representative, Vladimir Maslennikov. First we’ll look at the Press Release:

On May 12, the 14th session of the Arctic Council (AC) was held via videoconferencing, during which the chairmanship of the Arctic Council for 2025–2027 passed from Norway to Denmark.

Following the meeting, a joint statement was adopted reaffirming the commitment of the Arctic states to peace, stability and cooperation in high latitudes, and the main areas of further cooperation within the framework of the Arctic Council for sustainable development, environmental protection and the interests of indigenous peoples were identified. Particular emphasis was placed on the importance of strengthening the potential of the Council, a key multilateral platform that is in demand for developing effective collective decisions on the most pressing issues on the Arctic agenda.

In his speech, the head of the Russian delegation, Director of the Department of European Problems of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Senior Official in the Arctic Council Vladimir Maslennikov emphasised the strategic importance of the Arctic for the Russian Federation, noted the readiness for equal cooperation with all responsible partners and the need to resume the Council's full-scale work.

The materials of the session are available on the Arctic Council website (arctic-council.org). [My Emphasis]

Very positive outcome. Now for the speech that provides specifics:

Mr Chairman,

Heads of Delegation of the Arctic Council Member States and Permanent Participants,

I am glad to see all the participants of the Arctic Council at the 14th meeting of our organisation.

The importance of the Arctic for the strategic interests of our country is enshrined in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, updated in March 2023. As the largest Arctic power, Russia is invariably interested in maintaining peace, stability and constructive cooperation in the Arctic, balanced socio-economic development of the region in the interests of improving the quality of life in the North. Other priority areas that guided Russia's chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023 include preserving the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples, protecting biodiversity and the unique Arctic environment, climate issues, responding to emergencies, and promoting scientific research in high latitudes.

The past three years have not been easy for multilateral cooperation in the Arctic. As confrontation has escalated in the high latitudes, which were once a territory of exclusively peaceful cooperation, most regional formats of cooperation have degraded. The Arctic Council, in fact, remains the only surviving structure, but it does not work at full capacity.

The final document of today's event will be the Joint Statement of the Arctic Council member states and its "permanent participants". The document is a compromise, but this does not diminish its importance. It is important that we were able to reaffirm our common desire to strengthen the role of the Arctic Council as a key body both for multilateral cooperation in the Arctic and for the preservation of peace and dialogue in high latitudes. In the current conditions, this is already a lot.

Next year we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Arctic Council. The results of this round date depend on all of us. We are convinced that the interests of all residents of the North, as well as the international community as a whole, correspond to the early resumption of the Council's full-scale work on an equal and non-politicised basis. Without regular meetings of the Committee of Senior Officials, plenary meetings of the Council, and the restoration of political dialogue, it is hardly possible to imagine the organisation effectively fulfilling its mandate enshrined in the 1996 Ottawa Founding Declaration and its other fundamental documents. The activities of the Arctic Council's working and expert groups will remain suppressed and virtually "invisible" to the international community. The implementation of the organisation's projects and initiatives that are in demand will be constantly postponed.

It is not in the interests of the organization itself to continue the functioning of the Arctic Council in this interim state. Failure to resume its full-fledged work in the foreseeable future will not only undermine the international authority and credibility of the Arctic Council, but will also inevitably raise the question of its "added value" as a whole. We hope that we will approach the transfer of the Danish chairmanship to our Swedish colleagues in May 2027 with more significant developments than today.

As President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the 6th 'Arctic: Territory of Dialogue' International Arctic Forum on March 27 in Murmansk, "Russia has been and continues to be in favour of equal cooperation in the region, and is ready to work together not only with the Arctic states, but also with all those who, like us, share responsibility for a stable and sustainable future and are able to make balanced decisions."

We are convinced that the Arctic Council still has the potential to restore the "spirit of cooperation." The Arctic countries bear the main responsibility for the present and future of the Arctic, and many of the region's challenges require collective and balanced solutions.

The next two years of Denmark's chairmanship of the Arctic Council will be truly decisive for its future prospects. We sincerely wish our Danish colleagues strength and good luck in this area.

Norway's outgoing "watch" in the Council has done an impressive amount of work, which needs to be increased. Thank you, Norway, and we thank Oslo and the Arctic Council Secretariat for these efforts.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism, a truly important date for all progressive humanity.

Thank you for your attention. [My Emphasis]

The future of the Arctic Council will be significantly tested with ultra Russophobic Denmark being its Chair over the next two years. There is also the challenge to the region’s peace by the Outlaw US Empire’s lust for acquiring Greenland regardless of how its residents feel about the matter—the last poll I saw showed 85% wanting independence, not annexation by the Empire. At the end of the PR is a link to the Arctic Council’s website which has a great deal of information plus a new edition of its magazine. Readers curious about the Arctic should give it a look and save it to your favorites. Oh, and it’s in English with a Russian option.

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