Washington sees importance of cooperation with Russia in Arctic

Washington sees importance of cooperation with Russia in Arctic
# 01 August 2020 09:29 (UTC +04:00)

The recently appointed coordinator for the Arctic Region at the US Department of State, James DeHart, said he saw the importance of maintaining cooperation with Russia in the Arctic region, APA reports citing TASS.

"Russia is an Arctic nation. They occupy the portion of the Arctic. They are a member of the Arctic Council. We have that history of cooperation with Russia in that context, and there has been some very good cooperation that continues," he said at a Wilson Center’s webinar, headlined ‘Realism in the Arctic.’

"When you look at research and science, at search and rescue, disaster management and so forth - this is important, real cooperation with a real impact that has to continue," he went on.

‘With Arctic exceptionalism, is it possible to completely wall off the region from the challenges that we have with Russia? I don’t know if we can do it completely," the US diplomat added.

"Certainly, the goal is there to keep the Arctic as a zone of cooperation, and the Arctic Council, I think, being a preeminent forum for that," he said. "And I really have no doubt that we will continue that approach with Russia in the context of the Arctic Council. There is a lot of important work we can do there.".

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