Russia suspends annual payments to Arctic Council, RIA agency reports

Russia has postponed yearly payments to the Arctic Council until “real work” starts with all member nations’ involvement, according to Russia’s RIA official news agency, citing the foreign ministry.

“At the moment, Russia’s payment of annual contributions to the budget of the Arctic Council has been suspended until the resumption of real work in this format with the participation of all member countries,” the ministry told RIA.

After Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, cooperation between Moscow and the Western Arctic governments of the intergovernmental group came to an abrupt halt.

In order to address concerns impacting the arctic area, such as pollution, local economic growth, and search and rescue operations, the Arctic Council was established in 1996.

The eight Arctic governments that make up the Council—Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Canada, and the United governments—have in the past achieved legally binding agreements on environmental preservation and protection through their efforts.

However, since there is no longer any collaboration with Moscow, around one-third of the 130 projects that the council has planned are no longer possible to move forward with or renew.

For now, Russia does not consider leaving the Council, the foreign ministry told RIA.

Last week, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson of the Russian foreign ministry, said that if the Council evolves “into an institution unfriendly to Russia,” then Moscow will consider whether to stay in it, TASS state agency reported.

On Tuesday, the speaker of the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, said that the chamber will vote next week on Russia leaving the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) and will consider the possibility of leaving other international organisations.