MOSCOW, Oct 31 that the Arctic Council can work without Russia, said Nikolai Korchunov, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council.
Earlier, US State Department adviser Derek Chollet said that the Arctic Council, of which Russia is a member, is able to continue implementing the vast majority of their projects and without the participation of Moscow.
«An unfounded assertion that the Arctic Council can work without the Russian Federation is enough. It is worth noting that all decisions of the Arctic Council are made by all member countries of the council. The principle of consensus applies. If any of the countries is against any decision or does not support, respectively «There will be no solution. This initially involves cooperation and interaction. Therefore, it seems to me that there is, apparently, an insufficient degree of study by my American colleague of the Arctic Council dossier, primarily from the point of view of statutory documents,» he said during a press conference on the site of the media group «Russia Today».
Also, most projects in the Arctic region are being implemented by two or three countries, Korchunov noted. There are no projects where all countries of the council would participate, he pointed out, noting that the countries have different priorities.
«And if we talk about any collective approaches or pan-Arctic decisions, then this requires the participation of all countries in their development including Russia. The priority of the Russian chairmanship in the Arctic Council was just called — responsible management of the sustainable development of the Arctic. And the sustainable development of the Arctic can be ensured only with the coordinated interaction of all eight states. sustainable development of the region, how effectively decisions will be made that will relate to the entire Arctic agenda,» he stressed.
The Arctic Council was established in 1996 at the initiative of Canada with the aim of cooperation in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development of the polar regions. It includes seven more Arctic countries: Russia, USA, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden