Russia advocates broad intl presence in Arctic region - diplomat
MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Russia welcomes the presence of non-regional countries and organizations in the Arctic, but thinks that the limit to their role in tackling regional problems must be set by the Arctic states, said Russian special envoy Anton Vasilyev.
"We have a clear idea, of course, that many of our competitive advantages in the Arctic can be maintained only in cooperation with other states, including non-Arctic ones. The Northern Sea Route is a vivid example of this," he said in an interview with Interfax.
"But the rules of the game in the region must be defined by those who belong here," said Vasilyev, who is also Russia's envoy to the Arctic Council.
Many of the non-Arctic states and organizations want to get observer status in the Arctic Council - the central cooperation organization in the region, comprised of Russia, the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, he said.
In this connection, the Council has made the decision to suspend granting observer status to applicants in order to work out general principles of granting this status and to regulate relations between the member-states and observers, he said.
In May 2011 the members adopted a document regulating these issues at the ministerial meeting in May 2011. The next meeting of the Council's foreign ministers in May 2012 will resume the discussion of applications for observer status, filed by countries and organizations concerned, Vasilyev said.