Source: Ruptly
Moscow announced on Monday its withdrawal from the European Barents and Arctic Council, due to a number of problems, most notably Russia’s assumption of leadership of the council next October.
The Russian Foreign Ministry explained in an official statement that this decision stems from the mistakes of the Western participants in the Council.
The statement said: “Due to the error of the Western members of the Council, namely Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the European Union, the Council’s activities have been paralyzed since March 2022, and for its part, the Finnish presidency has not confirmed its readiness to transfer the Council’s leadership to Russia as scheduled in October 2023, in violation of The principle of rotation is clear, which disrupts the necessary preparations for this, and under these circumstances we are forced to announce Russia’s withdrawal from the Council.”
The ministry indicated that a letter was sent from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Russia’s withdrawal from the Barents and Arctic Council to the participants, the organization’s secretariat, and the European Union’s High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.