Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. Archival photoMOSCOW, June 14There is no point in decisions on the Arctic, taken without Russia's participation, Moscow is not obliged to follow them, said Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. In his Telegram channel, he recalled that Recently, seven Arctic states decided to resume the work of the Arctic Council, but without the participation of Russia. «You can arrange as many fights as you like and try to solve something without Russia. But if such decisions are made without taking into account the interests of the largest Arctic power, they make no sense. And our country is absolutely not obliged to follow these decisions,» Medvedev wrote. He recalled that Russia controls the longest Arctic zone, where more than half of the indigenous population of the Arctic lives and most of the economic activity is carried out in high latitudes. «Joint effective work to ensure protection environment and the development of the polar regions will be virtually frozen.Although the Arctic Council was created and precisely for the sake of these goals,» Medvedev noted.
