A very sharp article in Bellona on Medvedev’s great reluctance to show support for NGO activity in the Arctic Council. The photo by Truide Pettersen shows a demonstration of ecologists in Murmansk.

Following Medvedev’s sour comments in Kirkenes on NATO expansion, here is an excellent article by the sharpest-of-the-sharp Edward Lucas Cold War in the north By Edward Lucas – 06.06.2013 / 03:40 CET The Nordic and Baltic states are increasingly worried about Russia Discussing NATO membership in Sweden is a bit like discussing sex at a… Read more »

Very little attention in the Russian media to the Barents Region summit in Kirkenes, where Prime Minister Medvedev tried to assert that Russia suffered no damage from signing the maritime border treaty with Norway on his watch. Moskovsky Komsomolets (rather suprisingly for this tabloid) focused on the issue of NATO enlargement, while Rossiiskaya Gazeta complained… Read more »

Here is a link to my article ‘Oil-and-gas problems in Russia’s foreign policy’ in the journal ECO published in Novosibirsk by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The issue is aptly entitled ‘We cannot and will not have any other Arctic’.

Ambassador Anton Vasilyev addressing the first session of the International Arctic Council in Moscow on May 23. Moskovsky Komsomolets noted the event. My presentation was quoted in Arctic.info.

I have been looking for reflection on the Arctic Council meeting in the Russian media – and have found surprisingly little. One opinionated comment about the EU coveting Arctic resources appeared in Regnum. Another more balanced analysis about ‘peace and love’ in the Kiruna meeting appeared in Expert, but the opening line is ‘The Arctic… Read more »

Russia had to agree to granting the status of permanent observers at the Arctic Council to six countries (but not to the EU), but according to Kommersant, convinced the member-state to approve a document that limits their role to silent observation. This sharp discussion looks rather different from the pretty picture of the works of… Read more »

The Arctic Council meets today in Kiruna, Sweden, famous for its huge iron ore mine. Kommersant has a sharp article on Russia’s opposition to the move to grant China and the EU the status of permanent observers, and even Nasdaq has reflected upon the event.

This beautiful photo of strategic bombers flying over Moscow for the Victory Day parade might serve as a reminder that one Tu-95MS caught fire right before taking off in late February and, as Kommersant informs, is now scrapped. According to Barents Observer, that plane (tail No. 21, common name ‘Samara’) was a frequent flyer over… Read more »

I find it rather amusing that the Arctic theme in the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta goes under the title “Arctic: Battle for Resources“. The only battle I know of happened last August, when Greenpeace landed on the Prirazlomnaya platform – and forced Gazprom to postpone the launch of the project for a year, or maybe more…. Read more »