OREANDA-NEWS Chairman of the Senior Officials Committee of the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov said that the issue of Sweden's and Finland's accession to NATO may make adjustments in the development of cooperation in the Arctic. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

Korchunov added that the accession or non-accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO should be considered from the perspective of how this decision will contribute to strengthening trust between the Arctic countries.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the Arctic may turn into a zone of military confrontation because of NATO's policy.

Finland and Sweden simultaneously submitted their official applications to join NATO in the morning of May 18. North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked the Scandinavian countries for their decision to join the military-political bloc.