Ukraine claims counter-attacks in Bakhmout that pushed the Russians back…

2023-05-11 08:16:11

08:01 am: Delicate succession to the Arctic Council, weakened by the banishment of Russia

Everything shattered with the war in Ukraine: a model of cooperation between former Cold War enemies, the Arctic Council tackles a delicate handover on Thursday due to the banishment of the largest country in the region, Russia. After two years of Russian presidency, Norway takes the reins of an interstate forum considered exemplary until the invasion of Ukraine which led seven of the eight members – United States, Canada and the five Nordic countries – to be suspended their work with Moscow.

“None of the member states has come out in favor of excluding Russia from the Arctic Council,” Norwegian foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt told AFP on Wednesday. But “because of the war of aggression launched by Russia, it will be a completely different presidency from what we envisaged”, she argued.

For the handover, she, like her Western colleagues, declined an invitation from her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to go to Siberia. Unusually, the handover will therefore be done digitally at the level of senior officials.