Canada And Nordic Countries To Create Arctic Defense Coalition Against Russia

The countries will also resist China.

Canada and Nordic countries are working to create a defence coalition to counter Russia and China in the Arctic, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly told Bloomberg.

“For a long time, Canada thought we were protected by our geography. But now we have to reckon with the fact that we are a country that is facing Russia, and because of climate change, more and more countries are showing interest in the Arctic, including China,” Joly said. She stressed that Ottawa must take this “new reality” into account.

Canada has promised to strengthen its military presence in the Arctic following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as amid China’s growing interest in the High North. In late September, Joly met with her counterparts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in the Canadian city of Iqaluit, Bloomberg reports. The ministers agreed to explore ways to create an Arctic Security Dialogue or a new forum to discuss defence issues.

At the same time, all of the listed countries, including the United States and Russia, are members of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental organization of Arctic states. After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, all Arctic Council countries refused to participate in meetings chaired by Moscow.

Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov said at the end of September that a "stream of communication" between Moscow and Ottawa was maintained in the Arctic Council working groups, and cooperation in this area was generally "breathing more or less". At the same time, the diplomat noted that communication is influenced by the fact that the absolute majority of the council's member countries have become NATO members.

All Arctic Council member states, except Russia, are NATO member states. Finland and Sweden joined NATO after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.

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