Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said NATO and Western countries were trying to turn the Arctic into a new front aimed at limiting Russia’s development. Lavrov said military activity in the region posed a direct threat to Russia’s security.
Lavrov said preserving the Arctic as an area of international cooperation and peace was in the interest of the entire international community, adding that Russia supported this approach. He argued that NATO and its member states were instead moving toward militarizing the region and creating new areas of international tension.
NATO’s activities in the Arctic
Lavrov said NATO launched the Arctic Sentry operation in February 2026 with the aim of expanding its military presence at high latitudes.
The Russian foreign minister said military preparations had intensified near his country’s northern borders. He said large-scale exercises involving non-regional countries had been held and that new elements had been added to NATO’s command-and-control structure.
Lavrov argued that military activity in the Arctic posed a direct risk to Russia’s security and said it increased the likelihood of incidents that could escalate into armed conflict and have serious consequences.
Lavrov also claimed that Western countries were deliberately creating an atmosphere of insecurity in the military sphere. He argued that financial and economic sanctions imposed on individuals and organizations involved in Arctic projects were intended to weaken Russia’s rights in international cooperation.
Resuming the Arctic Council’s activities
Lavrov said the West’s anti-Russian policy had prevented multilateral cooperation mechanisms in the Arctic from functioning. He said some mechanisms had ended, while others had largely lost their meaning without Russia’s participation.
Lavrov said the Arctic Council, established about 30 years ago, was the only intergovernmental format that had continued to exist since September 19, 1996. He announced that they were ready for the Council to resume full operations if a fair working approach was adopted that mutually respected the legitimate interests of all parties.
Lavrov argued that NATO countries’ attempts to address Arctic issues among themselves without Russia could discredit and marginalize the Arctic Council. In such a case, he said, Russia had territory, logistical capabilities, technologies and partners in the region with whom it could cooperate on projects based on mutual benefit.
Russia’s regional plans
Lavrov said Russia held a leading position in the Arctic and that the melting of polar ice caused by climate change could increase opportunities for transportation and access to resources.
Lavrov said the Arctic was beginning to play a more important role in establishing sustainable trade links, particularly because disruptions to logistics chains affected sea routes critical to the international economy. He added that the region’s strategic importance for Russia’s national interests and security would increase.
Lavrov said Russia would continue comprehensive development efforts at high latitudes and the development of Arctic infrastructure. He said they would maintain the view that Arctic maritime areas were an integral part of the World Ocean in terms of economic activity.
Recalling that the special rights and responsibilities of coastal states in the Arctic were set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Lavrov said these rights and responsibilities had also been reaffirmed by the Arctic Five in the Ilulissat Declaration adopted in 2008. The five countries are Russia, Denmark, Canada, Norway and the United States.
The Russian foreign minister said there was no need for new international legal instruments to regulate economic and other activities at high latitudes. Lavrov said Russia would preserve the comprehensive and pragmatic nature of its Arctic policy.
Lavrov said they supported the Arctic becoming an integral part of a shared area of security and cooperation in Eurasia. He argued that the language of sanctions and threats would not produce results in relations with Russia. He said Russia preferred constructive dialogue but would protect its national interests using all available means.
Lavrov said Russia was open to all partners ready to participate in its Arctic activities on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. He listed the priority areas as developing natural resources; operating the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor and the Northern Sea Route; establishing industrial, transport and tourism infrastructure; improving the welfare of the region’s people; protecting the northern environment; and conducting scientific research.
