All members of Arctic Council speak against politicization of organization - source

OTTAWA, April 25. /TASS/. All permanent members of the Arctic Council as well as observer countries have spoken against politicization of the organization’s work, a source in the Russian delegation that took part in the work of a ministerial meeting of the Council in Iqaluit, Canada, told TASS.

Canada officially handed to the United States the Arctic Council presidency for the next two years.

"Constructive and thematic talks with all participants of the Arctic Council took part during the day. All countries, especially permanent representatives of the organization, spoke for constructive interaction and exclusion of politicization," the source said.

"Our position is the following: Arctic is a zone of cooperation, and not confrontation," he said. "It was particularly stressed that in order to resolve the set tasks, all countries making part of the Arctic Council need to interact."

During the meetings, he said, no country, including Canada, made loud statements regarding the situation in Ukraine. "However, we express regret that the Canadian side touched upon the issue, apparently for domestic political reasons, during the final press conference," he said.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum addressing issues faced by the Arctic countries. It was established in 1996. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States make part of the Council.