MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he supported Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store’s criticism of the European Commission’s call to prohibit the development of new oil and gas fields in the Arctic region.

"I agree with the opinion, expressed by Norwegian Prime Minister Store, who has already expressed his view regarding those EU initiatives," Lavrov said, answering to a question from Norway’s NRK broadcaster. The minister’s response was posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website on Tuesday.

In an interview with The Financial Times, Store lashed at the EU initiative to prohibit oil and gas drilling in the Arctic region. Norway will be the hardest-hit nation if the shutdown takes place.

Earlier this month, the European Commission (EC) suggested introducing a global moratorium on hydrocarbons production in the Arctic but supported mineral resources extraction by EU members subject to high environmental standards. Virginijus Sinkevicius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, said on October 13 that in accordance with the EU strategy for the Arctic, "oil, gas and coal to stay in the ground, including in the Arctic," and the European Commission "will seek for an international agreement for this moratorium."

According to the official, the region is of particular importance from the point of view of the climate change, because temperatures there are rising three times faster than in other regions, and the melting of Arctic ice speeds up the process of global warming.