wp.arcticportal.org

Tag: Territory of Dialogue

  • No armed forces in the Arctic

    No armed forces in the Arctic

    Vladimir Putin and Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

    Military presence in the Arctic should not be a reality, a senior Russian diplomat has claimed. At the The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue international forum, held in Arkhangelsk last week the issue was raised.

    “We do not see problems [in the Arctic] that could lead to the use of force, and we do not see the need to place military-political blocs there,” said Anton Vasilyev, ambassador-at-large on Arctic issues at the Russian Foreign Ministry., according to RIA Novosty.

    “We have an efficient international treaty framework to resolve any potential conflicts [in the region],” Vasilyev added.

    The idea of a “mini-NATO” in the Arctic region was a subject discussed at a summit of Northern European countries in London on January 19-20, 2011. The name refers to a proposed military bloc of Scandinavian countries, ex-Soviet Baltic republics and the United Kingdom, which many describe as the “response to Russian efforts in the north.”

    “So far this idea has not been followed by any practical development, but we are keeping an eye on the situation,” the Russian diplomat said.

  • Prince of Monaco urges action

    Prince Albert II of Monaco

    Signatories to the Kyoto protocol should continue greenhouse gas emission cuts after its first period expires in 2012, Prince Albert II of Monaco said in Arkhangelsk yesterday at the second international forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue.

    “The international community can not remain in its current passive condition and hold back from new obligations after the first round of the Kyoto commitments expires,” the prince said in his speech.

    The first period set out in the Kyoto protocol, during which levels of greenhouse gas emissions are to be cut by developed nations, ends in 2012. Developed and developing countries have not yet agreed on a further binding climate change regulation regime.

    The next session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held at the end of 2011 in South Africa’s Durban.

  • Russia to explore Barents Sea Shelf

    Russia to explore Barents Sea Shelf

    Barents Sea

    Russia’s Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev confirmed this morning in Arkhangelsk at the second international forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue that Russia will begin geological exploration of the promising Barents Sea shelf located on the border with Norway in 2012.

    The exploration will begin at the Fedynsky Arch deposit, in the southern part of the Barents Sea. High hopes remain for the region where an estimated 10-12 billion metric tons of fuel equivalent are thought to be found.

    It was last year that Russia and Norway finally settled in the matter. “Forty-year-long talks have finished, we can now start working jointly. Norway has already begun seismic surveys in its part of the shelf. Russia plans to begin work in 2012. They will be funded from the federal budget,” Trutnev said this morning.