Russian ambassador accuses Canada of disrupting Arctic Council work

Canada is disrupting the work of the Arctic Council by trying to exclude Russia from discussions on key issues. This accusation was made by the Russian Ambassador in Ottawa Oleg Stepanov in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

“While formally confirming the importance of this multilateral platform for itself, in reality Ottawa makes it clear that it is not averse to derailing the work of the Arctic Council,” the diplomat said.

Stepanov noted that Canada has been seeking for several years to move the discussion of key issues to a narrower format from the Western countries of the region that are NATO members. According to him, such actions do not benefit the association.