The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on the consequences of freezing the work of the Arctic Council

The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow. File photoMOSCOW, May 20.A pause in the work of the Arctic Council will lead to the fact that the risks of soft security in the region will increase, Moscow calls for the resumption of the work of the council and is ready to resume dialogue, said Nikolai Korchunov, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov. the activity of the Arctic Council, including the project, has 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, «said Korchunov during a briefing organized by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency. According to him, «the soonest resumption of the full-scale work of the Arctic Council, of course, is in the interests of not only the Arctic states, but also the international community as a whole.» «Russia expresses its readiness to resume dialogue in high latitudes,» the ambassador summed up. The position of the member states of the Arctic Council is temporary and does not provide for reformatting the membership of this structure, said Nikolai Korchunov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council. .jpg» />The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the decision of the Arctic Council to suspend work irrational «At this stage, it is emphasized that the freezing of our partners in the Arctic Union of their participation in the work of the Council is temporary and does not provide for reformatting the membership of this organization or its structure,» Korchunov said at a briefing organized by the MIA » Russia today.» He added that at the Tromso site it was emphasized that the Arctic Council is of the greatest value with the participation of all eight Arctic states in it, that Western member countries are not interested in changing the structure or composition of the participants. «Any activity of the Council in a truncated composition and any decisions in this format will not be legitimate,” Korchunov said at a briefing organized by the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. “In this regard, the position of our colleagues on the Council has not changed in any way. Russia remains open to the early resumption of the activities of the Arctic Council, so that our cooperation can continue without prejudice to those who depend on it. We will strive to minimize the possible negative consequences of the current pause in the work of the Council,» Korchunov concluded.