On October 9, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Danish counterpart, Jeppe Kofod. They discussed the outlook of bilateral relations, cooperation in the Arctic, and urgent international and regional issues.

Initially, the visit of the Danish foreign Minister to the Russian capital was supposed to take place in early 2020, but the trip was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Russian foreign Ministry's comments released yesterday, Moscow sees the Danish Minister's visit as Copenhagen's readiness for a Frank discussion of the current state of Affairs and its intention to normalize the bilateral dialogue.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Lavrov emphasized that this meeting was a good opportunity to continue the dialogue started on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2019. “I know that you have thoroughly prepared for today’s talks and announced them in the press more than once. We are also interested in discussing the reasons for the current difficulties in Russian-Danish relations and the prospects of developing them in the interests of our nations,” said the Russian foreign minister.

Officially, the Arctic countries agreed to keep the Arctic zone free from geopolitical tensions, the Danish newspaper reminds. However, the region is rich in raw materials and has an invaluable strategic importance in terms of security policy. In addition, other countries have claims to the Arctic. Danish experts are alarmed, first of all, by China's investments in Greenland.

Five countries argue concerning territories in Arctic regions. They hope to get access to the minerals which are deeply under ice.

The mankind became the geological force capable to remove approach of the next glacial era. The German scientists, authors of article in the Nature magazine came to such conclusion.

In Iqaluit, Canada held a constituent meeting of the Arctic Economic Council set up under the Arctic Council, the press service of the AC.

In Ilulissat Declaration of 28 May 2008, all five Arctic coastal states (Russia, USA, Canada, Norway and Denmark on behalf of Greenland) pledged to resolve territorial claims in the framework of international law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Declaration affirmed that the legal framework provided by the UN Convention, which is sufficient to control the Arctic Ocean, and there is no need to establish a new international legal regime.