🎙️Excerpts from the briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Moscow, February 18, 2026

Western statements on the Arctic

As the largest Arctic power, Russia is interested in maintaining peace and stability in the high latitudes like nobody else. This goal is formalised in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation and other specialised strategic documents and remains our top priority, regardless of timeserving political fluctuations.

Our country always remains open for mutually respectful dialogue with all those who are openly committed to international law and to addressing regional issues by political and diplomatic methods. It is important that Russia’s dynamically developing cooperation with foreign and non-regional partners in the Arctic is not directed against other states. This cooperation aims to facilitate the region’s sustained socio-economic development, to improve local standards of living and to protect the unique Arctic environment and the heritage of indigenous peoples.

All experts who are more or less interested in the Arctic (not those admiring Made in Brussels photo wallpaper but those who know what they are talking about) realise that attempts to blame Russia for provoking tensions in the North are baseless. The consistent development of the Russian Arctic Zone is our legitimate right. The Russian infrastructure, including its military infrastructure, has been deployed above the Arctic Circle for a long time. It reflects the current situation and plays an important role in addressing an entire range of economic and defensive objectives.

At the same time, we can see that NATO countries or all Arctic states (except Russia), bound by intra-bloc discipline (although this amounts to a command-and- administer system, rather than discipline), continue to consistently expand their military presence in the high latitudes, and they involve the armed forces of non-regional countries in these activities. For many years, they have been expanding the scale of military exercises in the Arctic and practicing collective offensive operations against a “theoretical” enemy (naturally, Russia). If we want to find those responsible for the rapid deterioration of the situation in the Arctic, then our Arctic colleagues ought to look in the mirror more often. I do not guarantee that they will see anything, including their reflection, there. But, certainly, they will not see Russia or China in the mirror.

The Arctic is not just a vast part of Russia, but it is also an inalienable aspect of the cultural code of Russian citizens who were the first to develop the uninviting polar territories. Quite soon, we will have yet another pretext for remembering this; on February 28, Russia will celebrate Arctic Day. Our country firmly advocates the responsible development of the Extreme North, while primarily relying on its own potential; it constantly shows concern for the well-being of Arctic residents and the local environment. Any attempts to hamper this are doomed to fail.