OREANDA-NEWS. June 01, 2010. A number of events within an international Arctic cooperation framework took place in Copenhagen.

The meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers from the Arctic Council member states, in which Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov took part, gave a positive appraisal of the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the Council’s ministerial session in 2009 and progress in the preparations for the next ministerial session in Nuuk, Denmark, in May 2011. The Deputy Ministers noted with satisfaction the increased cooperation of the Arctic states. They emphasized the central role of the Council in the organization of multilateral cooperation in the Far North in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development. The Deputy Ministers welcomed the progress in the work of the Council’s two task forces: on the preparation of a multilateral instrument for cooperation in search and rescue operations in the Arctic (co-chairs – the US and Russia) and on the study of short-lived climate forcers. The Deputy Ministers discussed questions of further institutional strengthening of the Arctic Council, including the role of observers in its work. At the end of the debate, appropriate instructions were given to the Council’s Committee of Senior Officials.

A conference organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers with the cooperation of the Arctic Council, titled “Arctic – changing realities,” which brought together diplomats, scientists, business circle members and representatives of the Northern Indigenous Peoples, discussed issues and prospects of international Arctic cooperation, particularly with respect to the sustainable development and exploitation of Arctic resources. All speakers acknowledged the Arctic states’ leading role in Arctic management. There were a number of practical proposals for further development and improvement of cooperation and collaboration. The Russian representative, Ambassador at Large Anton Vasiliev, in his speech dedicated to the Ilulissat Declaration of the ministerial meeting of the five Arctic coastal states in May 2008, drew attention to, among other things, the long-term importance of this document for dealing with all possible issues in the Arctic on the basis of existing and adequate norms of international law, and the impact of the interaction of the five Arctic coastal states, which advantageously complements the central role of the Arctic Council.