The littoral countries have absolute priority for crucial decision-making in the Arctic
Question: Mr Medvedev, how do you assess the current level of cooperation in the Barents Region? How important is this for Russian policies?
Dmitry Medvedev: The very fact that we are holding this summit is indicative of the very high level of cooperation in the Barents Region. In the last 20 years, we have travelled a long way from the heritage of the past epoch, which was characterised by chronic distrust and vestiges of the Cold War, to committed cooperation in all areas, ranging from economic projects to rescue operations and environmental protection.
In the context of Russian Arctic policies, cooperation in the Barents/Euro-Arctic Region is certainly one of our priorities. We consider ourselves, first of all, a full-fledged part of this region, and therefore we have a duty to take part in decision-making. Second, we are unable to implement a number of projects (be it economic or humanitarian) on our own; these are tasks which we should tackle jointly with our partners, including Norway and other Barents Sea partners. So, in my view, the general situation is shaping up pretty well.
Question: There are two spheres of activities in the Arctic: the Arctic Council and Barents Cooperation. How do they influence Russia’s policies?
Dmitry Medvedev: Cooperation in the Barents Region and the Arctic policy are two interconnected things, as for that matter is our participation in the Arctic Council.
Where policy-making is concerned, we have been paying a lot of attention for quite a while to the Arctic sector in our decision-making. For example, we have endorsed an Arctic development strategy until 2020, which is a programme in its own right. In 2009, we approved a conceptual plan for rendering economic and humanitarian support to small indigenous ethnic groups populating Russia’s Arctic region as a whole. In March, we decided to establish an Arctic route directorate. This means that the Barents Region’s issues and, in a broad sense, Arctic issues, have become our state policy priorities, which are being tackled by the President, the Government and the State Duma. I think this is very important because it demonstrates the openness of our intentions. We don’t harbour any secret plans; our policies are open and we hope that our partners and friends will abide by the same principles.
Question: What are Russia’s aims in the Arctic and the Barents Region? Will Russia cooperate with other countries, such as China, which has observer status in the Arctic Council? So far we can see that Russia is the biggest country in this region, and a highly influential one… What do you think?
Dmitry Medvedev: Our aims in the Euro-Arctic Region are peaceful and pragmatic: we would like to use its potential for the benefit of our people and, of course, for that of people in neighbouring countries. According to economists’ calculations (although figures can always vary), a considerable share of revenues which Russia receives from hydrocarbon sales are specifically Arctic revenues. Economists have calculated that up to 10% of the Russian Federation’s total revenues come from the use of all Arctic capabilities, which is a huge sum. This is why we have a vested interest in our presence here being peaceful and absolutely practical. We want to implement concrete economic and humanitarian projects.
As far as other countries are concerned, I said earlier today that countries in the Arctic Region and Arctic Council members should have absolute priority for decision-making with regard to using the Arctic Region. This is only natural because this is our region, we live here, it’s our land, and we are neighbours. For example, Finnmark Province and the Murmansk Region of Russia are contiguous. We must approve all fundamental decisions in conformity with international law. But this does not mean that we should cut off other countries and tell them, get out of here, we don’t want to see your projects, your money and your research. A number of countries, including China, have been granted observer status with the Arctic Council. I think this is reasonable: we are interested in productive cooperation. But let me repeat it once again: the regulations operating in the Arctic Region should be endorsed by the Arctic countries themselves.
Question: Does this mean that we can trust China?
Dmitry Medvedev: We can trust China, but the rules of the game need to be imposed by the Arctic countries.
Question: How does Russia view other countries participating in this cooperation and their efforts in this area?
Dmitry Medvedev: We view them with great sympathy because they are our neighbours and partners and we are on very good terms. As far as cooperation with Norway is concerned, we maintain regular contacts with the Norwegian Prime Minister. We have had four or five meetings in recent years in different circumstances and have done a lot of useful things. For example, we signed the well-known agreement on delimitation in the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea and on the state border, which, in my view, has opened the way for full blown economic cooperation and removed problems that had been piling up for years. I think this is our priority and the capital which we have created in recent years. In general, relations between states should be based on these principles. And this refers not only to Russia and Norway but also to other countries, which also have problems in their interaction and which sign the necessary documents to resolve them.
Generally, I can say that the atmosphere at our summit, which we held yesterday and are holding today, is very friendly. We have been discussing practical subjects, such as cooperation on transport, both maritime and overland. (Proposals were made to build a rail network in the area and develop ordinary roads.) All of this is very important for ordinary people. We are talking about the need for visa-free travel; and the simplification of existing visa regulations are already in operation and helping our people. We are talking about major scientific and educational projects. Let me once again mention cooperation in support for indigenous minority ethnic groups, who are the original inhabitants of this land. So I think we have established good communications across the board.
Question: How can Russia and the USA cooperate successfully in the Arctic and the Barents Region while there are incidents in the field of security and intelligence, as has happened recently?
Dmitry Medvedev: Experience shows that we can cooperate with the United States in most areas. We have been organising or trying to organise this cooperation in various areas, including in the Barents/Euro-Arctic Region, where we have common interests with regard to rescue operations and environmental problems, including global warming, creating wildlife reserves, and other things. Incidentally, we established a wildlife reserve not so long ago (I signed the relevant resolution) and we are expecting the Americans to reciprocate.
We are prepared for all kinds of cooperation. But the important thing is that this should be a peaceful cooperation, even though we belong to different military-political groups. Nevertheless we are capable of peaceful cooperation without seeking out enemies or intelligence. Countries do this anyway, it’s completely normal, but it mustn’t be allowed to prevail over peaceful, practical aims. In this sense, we are open to cooperation with the United States.
Question: Let's go back to relations between our two countries. What priorities in promoting relations between Norway and Russia do you see?
Dmitry Medvedev: After this interview I will hold talks with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway. The priorities remain the same, primarily large-scale, full-blown cooperation with Norway as our northern neighbour in various areas. We will implement major economic projects, including energy projects, given that we are two major energy powers. We will cooperate in fishing. We have just seen several interesting life-saving operations. We have been shown joint maritime rescue drills and given a rundown on joint fishery research. The point is that our biological resources need to be managed competently. It was believed not so long ago that herring reserves were inexhaustible. But they are not inexhaustible. Our biological resources must be monitored and maintained, and we have to avoid disputes. We will cooperate on the environment, which is of key importance for this region. It is very important for us to practice modern approaches to exploiting our natural resources, avoid polluting the water and soil, and rectify the problems created over the last few decades. We also discussed this earlier today. Every country has their own problems but they should be consistently addressed by developing new purification facilities and modern nature conservation technologies. And, of course, we will implement humanitarian projects, of which there are many and which are of benefit for our countries. We will discuss all these issues with my counterpart and we will sign a couple of important documents.
Correspondent: Mr Medvedev, thank you for this conversation. It was a pleasure.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you for your excellent Russian.