Russia is open for cooperation in the Arctic with all constructive-minded partners, including non-regional partners, Vladislav Maslennikov, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Issues, told RIA Novosti.

“The Russian Federation plays a leading role in the Arctic. We are self-sufficient; at the same time, we are open for collaboration and mutually beneficial cooperation with all constructive-minded partners, including non-regional partners,” Maslennikov told the news agency.

He added that Russia continued to prioritize the Arctic region in the context of addressing significant and comprehensive objectives, as regards the importance of solving the complex of issues of the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation’s Arctic zone, as well as the development of international cooperation in the Extreme North.

According to the diplomat, the current regional situation does not reflect the mood of the Arctic Council’s Western members who prefer to sit it out and wait. 

“It is necessary to work in the Arctic, and we can see that multiple non-regional countries are ready for constructive cooperation in the high latitudes,” Maslennikov noted.