During Norway’s two-year turn at the helm of the Arctic Council, the intergovernmental body was beset by strain over how to deal with Trump and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia is the biggest Arctic nation and was the chair of the council before Norway.
It was one of the few settings where Western countries and Russia worked together closely, but the other seven countries decided to pause their work with Russia in the council shortly after Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Arctic Council does not deal with security issues but makes binding agreements on environmental protection and gives a voice to the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic region.
The members are Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Six organisations representing Arctic Indigenous peoples are permanent participants of the council, which was established in 1996. Countries including France, Germany, China, Japan, India and Korea attend the council’s meetings as observers. (AP) GSP