What to expect from Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Iceland?

HELSINKI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The 12th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting is to be held Thursday in Reykjavik, Iceland. As two of the Arctic Council members -- the United States and Russia, will use this multilateral stage to have bilateral talks, this year's meeting has attracted more attention.

The eight-member Arctic Council is considered to be the most important regional institutional arrangement in Arctic governance. The Ministerial Conference, the decision-making body of the Council, is held every two years.

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, this year's meeting will be held in a combined online and offline manner.

U.S.-RUSSIA TALKS

Earlier this month, the United States and Russia announced respectively that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet during the meeting to discuss hot issues in bilateral and international relations.

Analysts pointed out that U.S.-Russian relations have continued to be intensified in recent months, and that the two sides have obvious differences on issues such as Ukraine, cybersecurity, human rights, and election interference. In such a context, the meeting, the first face-to-face between Blinken and Lavrov, is much more highly expected.

Furthermore, paving the way for the U.S.-Russian leaders' summit is expected to be one of the tasks of the meeting.

In April U.S. President Joe Biden proposed holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Europe this summer, and in early May expressed hope that he will meet Putin during his visit to Europe in June. It is expected that Blinken and Lavrov will prepare for the summit and may further compare notes on some specific issues.

JOINT DECLARATION

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Arctic Council. As the Biden administration has shown a different climate foreign policy preference from the Donald Trump administration, analysts believed that this year's meeting is expected to be more fruitful than the previous one.

At the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting held in Finland in 2019, due to the disagreement between the United States and other member states on the issue of climate change, the meeting failed to issue a joint declaration for the first time in the history of the Arctic Council.

Analysts observed that the Arctic is more vulnerable to climate change and global warming due to its unique geographical location and fragile natural ecological environment. They called on all parties to arrive at a political consensus, strengthen cooperation and effectively deal with the challenges that climate change brings to the Arctic.

The meeting will see the end of the two-year Icelandic chairmanship and the beginning of the Russia's chairmanship for the year of 2021-2023.

The meeting will also review around 80 deliverables compiled by the Council's Working Groups during the Icelandic chairmanship. It is reported that Arctic ministers plan to sign the first-ever strategic plan of the Arctic Council -- Reykjavik Declaration to mark the Council's 25th anniversary.

PANDEMIC IMPACT

Amid the still raging COVID-19 pandemic, how to ensure the safety of the meeting has become a top priority for Iceland.

The meeting, the first to be hosted in-person under the auspices of the Arctic Council since the COVID-19 pandemic called a halt to gatherings in early 2020, will be held in a reduced format.

Foreign Ministers from the eight Arctic States and representatives of the Indigenous Permanent Participants participate in person in Reykjavik and the majority of delegates join the meeting through video link.

According to the guidelines distributed to the participants, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or have other certificates, they will be tested for the novel coronavirus on arriving in Iceland and must be quarantined before receiving a negative test report. All participants should wear a mask in transportation and public places during the meeting.

New regulations on public gatherings took effect in Iceland on May 10. The maximum number of people allowed to gather is 50 instead of 20. The opening hours of restaurants, nightclubs, and bars have been extended by an hour. They may receive guests until 10 pm local time, and everyone must leave the premises by 11 pm local time. The maximum number of seated guests at cultural events is 150. Masks must be worn in all situations where the two-meter social distance cannot be maintained.