Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO and Western countries were trying to turn the Arctic into a new front aimed at limiting Russia’s development.
Lavrov said international cooperation in the Arctic and preserving the region as a zone of peace were in the interest of the entire international community. Saying that Russia also supported this approach, Lavrov argued that NATO countries and the alliance as a whole were moving toward militarizing the region and creating areas of international tension.
Warning over military activity in the Arctic
Lavrov said NATO had launched Operation Arctic Sentry in February 2026, aiming to expand its military presence at high latitudes.
The Russian foreign minister said military preparations had intensified near Russia’s northern borders, large-scale exercises involving non-regional countries had been held, and new elements had been created in NATO’s command-and-control structure.
According to Lavrov, this military activity in the Arctic posed a direct threat to Russia’s security. He said these activities increased the risk of incidents that could escalate into armed conflict and have serious consequences.
Lavrov argued that Western countries were deliberately creating an atmosphere of insecurity in the military sphere. He claimed that financial and economic sanctions targeting individuals and organizations involved in Arctic projects were intended to weaken Russia’s rights in international cooperation.
The future of the Arctic Council
Lavrov said one consequence of the West’s anti-Russian policy was the disruption of multilateral cooperation mechanisms in the Arctic. He said some mechanisms had ended, while others had largely lost their significance without Russia’s participation.
The Russian foreign minister said the Arctic Council, established about 30 years ago, was the only intergovernmental format that had existed since September 19, 1996. He said Russia was ready to resume the Council’s full activities if a fair working approach was adopted that took all sides’ legitimate interests into account on a reciprocal basis.
Lavrov argued that NATO countries’ attempts to discuss Arctic issues among themselves without Russia could result in the Arctic Council being discredited and marginalized. He said that, in such a scenario, Russia had territory, logistical capabilities, technologies and partners in the region with whom it could cooperate on mutually beneficial projects.
Russia’s Arctic policy
Lavrov said Russia held a leading position in the Arctic and that, alongside climate change, the melting of polar ice could improve transportation and access to resources.
Lavrov said the Arctic was beginning to play a more important role in ensuring sustainable commercial links because of disruptions in logistics chains, particularly on sea routes that were critical to the international economy. He said the region’s strategic importance to Russia’s national interests and security would grow.
Lavrov said Russia would continue comprehensive development efforts at high latitudes and the development of infrastructure in the Arctic. He added that, in economic activities, Russia would maintain its view that Arctic maritime areas were an integral part of the World Ocean.
Lavrov recalled that the special rights and responsibilities of coastal states in the Arctic were set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He said those rights and responsibilities had also been affirmed in the 2008 Ilulissat Declaration by the Arctic Five, comprising Russia, Denmark, Canada, Norway and the United States.
The Russian foreign minister said Moscow saw no need for new international legal instruments to regulate economic and other activities at high latitudes. He said Russia would maintain the comprehensive and pragmatic nature of its Arctic policy.
Lavrov said Russia supported the Arctic becoming an integral part of the common area of security and cooperation in Eurasia. Arguing that the language of sanctions and threats would not produce results in relations with Russia, Lavrov said his country preferred constructive dialogue but would protect its national interests using all available means.
Lavrov said Russia was open to all partners ready to participate in Arctic projects on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. He listed the development of natural resources, operation of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor and the Northern Sea Route, construction of industrial, transport and tourism infrastructure, improving the welfare of the region’s people, protecting the northern environment and conducting scientific research among the priority areas.
