Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview for the Soviet Breakthrough semi-documentary series project, Moscow, September 19, 2024

Question: What countries does Russia interact with to develop the Arctic Region? What is the mechanism of this interaction?

Sergey Lavrov: The Arctic Council has been in existence for rather long. Apart from Russia, it includes the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Each country presides over the Arctic Council during two years. Russia’s position papers on developing its northern areas and cooperating with partners in the high latitudes always proceed from the premise that, first, the Arctic Council is the main body ensuring multilateral cooperation and, second, that there is not a single problem in the Arctic that would require any elements of military activity to be transferred thereto. This approach is shared by all the other Arctic Council members. Their position papers, including the US documents, say that they aspire to a peaceful and prosperous Arctic. We agree with this approach.   

In practice, however, our NATO colleagues increasingly often turn their eyes to the Arctic Region (this began long before the special military operation), declaring that the North Atlantic alliance also has interests over there for reason of its geographical location. They claim that Norway has been a member of NATO since its inception and therefore they also need to keep an eye on developments in the region. Currently, this attitude manifests itself in other regions as well. The bloc’s claims that they are allegedly a purely defensive alliance concerned solely with defending the territory of member-countries come straight from the devil.

The Arctic is not NATO’s territory. But it is no longer enough for them that, contrary to their promises, they have added almost the whole of Europe to NATO membership. Currently, the Alliance is turning its eyes to the entire Asia Pacific Region, declaring bluntly that “thence come the threats to NATO.” A highly peculiar statement that one! Just look at the Eurasian continent. Where is the Far East, the eastern seas, or the Pacific? And where is the bloc? Their desire to globalise, gain legitimacy and assert themselves as a global, rather than just North Atlantic, policeman extends to the Arctic Region. We see NATO multiply exercises to prepare for possible crises in the Arctic. But Russia is fully prepared to protect its interests at the military, political and military-technical levels.   

Despite the processes we observe at certain other international organisations, where the West refuses to cooperate with us, Salekhard hosted the 13th session of the Arctic Council in May 2023, when Russia held the AC Chairmanship.  All the eight member-countries attended at the level of high representatives, and this gives hope. Our partners came as well. The participants approved a joint statement that emphasised the need for preserving a peaceful Arctic as a territory of neighbourliness, stability, and cooperation.  It was an achievement in its own right that these words were uttered in the present-day situation. We will do our best to make these words carry weight and have the Arctic Council members abide by these principles. Besides, there are many non-Arctic nations willing to work in the Arctic, including China and India, our close strategic partners. We have many projects (including joint projects) with both sides, which create prospects for trilateral cooperation. These imply efforts to promote economic ties, introduce technologies to Arctic development, produce LNG, use the Northern Sea Route, and upgrade its infrastructure for an added convenience of Asia-Europe communications.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that the future of humanity depends on the Arctic, which is the richest region of our planet in terms of natural resources. As the climate changes, and the Arctic resources become easier to gain access to, interest from all players in the region is increasing accordingly. We will uphold the principles that the Arctic Council is guided by, if they are in line with Russian laws and the decisions that we make and implement in Russia’s Arctic zone. We will continue to insist that the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which governs the delimitation of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, continue to be used as the legal framework for any activity in this part of the world. This work has been going on for a long time and will continue for as long as it takes. We see that the majority of Arctic nations respect the agreed procedures. Russia is satisfied with the performance of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

Question: We are on a second wave of Arctic development now. Can the Arctic become a field for diplomatic struggle? How could that struggle be manifested?

Sergey Lavrov: Again, there is the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which lays out the delimitation procedure for the continental shelf in the Arctic. There is the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which includes a Russian representative. I would not describe this as a ‘struggle.’ In today’s conditions, I would rather talk about negotiations aimed at achieving a balance of interests. On the other hand, life is a struggle. Countries apply to the UN Commission; the commission considers the case and requests additional data, including the practical results of scientific research in the Arctic. Experts decide how justified the country’s claim is and decide on an extension of its territorial sea beyond the 200 nautical miles from its coastline defined under the Convention as the outer limit of its exclusive economic zone. This is diplomacy.

So far, most countries interested in expanding the boundaries of their continental shelf have acted legitimately, in strict accordance with the established procedure, which includes a final decision on each application taken on the basis of general approval and scientific rationale.

A few months ago, the United States announced the new outer limits of its continental shelf in areas beyond 200 miles from the coast without applying to the commission. Clearly, that was another attempt to show it was superior to everyone else, a hegemon – “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” as [in the proclamation by the pigs] in George Orwell’s story Animal Farm. It was quite telling that not a single country agreed with that claim. We will work with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to return to the rules established by the UNCLOS.