Russia could come back to the Arctic Council if and when the war in Ukraine comes to an end, according to Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada president Lisa Qiluqqi Koperqualuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Koperqualuk gave a lecture on \u201cwhy Inuit matter globally\u201d about Indigenous Policy at Carleton University in Ottawa Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It covered several topics, including how the Arctic Council\u2019s activities were impacted after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cICC\u2019s longstanding position for all circumpolar peoples \u2014 Indigenous and others \u2014 is to ensure the Arctic continues to be used exclusively for peaceful and environmentally safe purposes, and must not become the object of human conflict,\u201d Koperqualuk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we\u2019ve watched the Russian invasion of Ukraine tragically play out over the past year and a half, we cannot but cast our eyes to Russia, which occupies a very large part of the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICC represents Inuit in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka. It is a permanent participant in the Arctic Council, along with member states Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the U.S. and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, the Arctic Council paused its activities<\/a> after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine began. Last month, activities resumed<\/a> with Norway taking over the organization\u2019s chairmanship, but council activities have largely excluded Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Koperqualuk, however, described how she envisions a future of the Arctic Council with Russia has strings attached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis pause in council activities has raised many questions about the future of peaceful co-operation in the Arctic. It means no formal work or meetings are being conducted, no projects that should have Russian involvement are presented,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re waiting to see what comes next. This is tragic: Russia controls a large part of the Arctic coastline, and continued communication remains an important peaceful means for Russia\u2019s return-to-table one day, if and when the conditions are right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Koperqualuk did not touch upon the conflict much in the remainder of her hour-long speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterward, Nunatsiaq News asked her what the right conditions for Russia\u2019s return to the Arctic Council would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe conditions would be, of course, there\u2019s no war, that human rights are respected,\u201d she said after a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked to elaborate on what an end to the war would look like, she declined to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Koperqualuk instead pivoted to talk about how ICC Canada wants to maintain a relationship with the Inuit of the Chukotka region in Russia, who she says have a reduced presence on the international stage due to the Russian-led conflict in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat relationship we have with them is one that we want to keep because they are family \u2026 we remain in solidarity with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe agree, as Inuit, to that pause [of Russian-involved Arctic Council activities] as well, but that didn\u2019t prevent us from continuing a relationship with ICC Chukotka.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of the democratic world has aligned itself with Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada has contributed more than $8 billion in financial, military, humanitarian, development and immigration assistance for Ukraine since January 2022, according to Global Affairs Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent last weekend in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announcing an additional $500 million in military spending, as well as a fresh round of sanctions against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe send out this message \u2014 Canada will stand by the people of Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes,\u201d Trudeau said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Koperqualuk touched upon several other topics in the remainder of her speech, including ICC\u2019s continued role in speaking on maritime shipping regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A student in attendance asked Koperqualuk about the growing role China is hoping to play in the Arctic when it comes to military and economic threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though China has observer status on the Arctic Council, Koperqualuk says it has been difficult to engage with on the issue of Inuit rights in the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to gain their understanding because [of] their policies on the rights of Indigenous peoples: they don\u2019t recognize Indigenous peoples in their country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re up against these huge players, it\u2019s not easy. That\u2019s why when I say we\u2019re up against significant opposition, it\u2019s really difficult to get past.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russia could come back to the Arctic Council if and when the war in Ukraine comes to an end, according to Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada president Lisa Qiluqqi Koperqualuk. Koperqualuk gave a lecture on \u201cwhy Inuit matter globally\u201d about Indigenous…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooperation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":584,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions\/584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}