FM Lavrov says China Is Russia's priority partner in Arctic development

MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a youth forum in the Vladimir Region on Monday that China is a priority partner for Russia to cooperate in the Arctic region.

"China is an observer in the Arctic Council," Lavrov said, TASS reported.

"China seems to have favorable prospects, because it has appropriate resources, technologies and scientific potential. But our Arctic should not boil down to the Arctic Council. Russia's Arctic zone is the area where we can work on a bilateral basis with many partners. Of course, China is one of the priority partners," he added.

Russia has accepted an invitation by the U.S. State Department to attend a two-day international conference on cooperation in the Arctic. The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic will take place in Anchorage, Alaska on August 30. Foreign ministers from Arctic and non-Arctic countries, as well as policymakers, scientists, and Arctic stakeholders, are expected to attend, as reported by Sputnik News.

President Barack Obama will address the conference.

Russia is one of five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean. The Kremlin's Arctic policy focuses on natural resources, protection of ecosystems, and using the seas for transportation.

In early August, Russia submitted a bid to the United Nations claiming vast territories in the Arctic Ocean.

Russia and China have begun a naval exercise dubbed Joint Sea II – in international waters in the Sea of Japan and off the coast of Russia's Primorsky territory. The war games are scheduled to conclude on August 28.