MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum for the promotion of cooperation, coordination and interaction among the governments of the Arctic countries. The forum comprises eight Arctic nations, namely Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, while 12 more states have observer status.
"In order to discuss a number of topical issues of cooperation in the region, on October 12-13, the Russian Council on International Affairs with the support of the Russian government staff and the Russian Foreign Ministry is holding a conference entitled 'International cooperation in the Arctic: New Challenges and vectors of development'," the organizers of the event said.
The United States chairs the Arctic Council until the May 2017 ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Russia has been stepping up its military, trade and exploration activities in the Arctic region. It has been building transport and energy production infrastructure, as well as installing military facilities and developing the Northern Sea Route linking Europe to Asia.
