Iceland's President Calls for Less Military Activities in Arctic Region

ST. PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2019) - Iceland's President Gudni Johannesson told Sputnik that his country was calling for decreasing military presence and activities in the Arctic Region, commenting on the Russian initiative to resume military contacts between the Arctic Council member states.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Johannesson will hold a meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, which hosts the International Arctic Forum on Tuesday-Wednesday. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for resuming military consultations - particularly, meetings of chiefs of staff - between member states of the Arctic Council.

"I can safely say on behalf of Iceland that our position is that the less military activity and presence in the Arctic, the better. Apart of that, I cannot give a specific reply to this question ... That is the future we will encourage," Johannesson said.

The Arctic Council comprises a total of eight member states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is one of the general media partners of the event.