Six weeks ago, on March 3, 2022, seven of the eight Arctic Council (AC) member states – called herein the “A7” – announced an historic, unanimous boycott of AC participation in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after just over 25 years of continuous operations since its September 1996 inaugural meeting in Ottawa. While this is the first time all seven democratic Arctic states agreed to suspend participation in all AC activities, back in April 2014, after Russia’s first assault upon Ukraine, the USA and Canada jointly boycotted a meeting of the AC’s Task Force for Action on Black Carbon and Methane (TFBCM) held in Moscow, but soon rejoined their fellow Council members. Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq explained that Ottawa was taking a “principled stand” by not attending, marking the first time – but not the last – the conflict in Ukraine disrupted the long tradition of Arctic cooperation at the Council. Läs artikel
