MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The United States, unlike Europe, has shown interest in resuming discussions within the Arctic Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are interested in establishing open and free Arctic cooperation within the Arctic Council that takes into account security, economic and environmental interests, as well as those of the indigenous peoples of all the participants in the Arctic cooperation, in the Arctic Council. We never terminated cooperation within this structure, we never severed contacts. And, by the way, the United States is showing interest in resuming discussions within the Arctic Council, unlike certain Europeans. Still, some technical contacts on this front remain in place," he said at a news conference reviewing the results of Russian diplomacy in 2025.
The Arctic Council suspended its work on March 3, 2022. However, its members resumed written communication in the fall of 2023 and in February 2024, it was decided to bring working groups back to active work, with Russia’s participation, in a virtual format. The first online meetings were held in the spring and summer of 2024.
The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental organization of Arctic countries, includes Denmark (along with Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States, Finland, and Sweden.