Arctic and global security top agenda as Trudeau meets Nordic leaders in Iceland

By Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press on June 25, 2023.

KEFLAVIK, ICELAND – Arctic security and Russia’s invasion in Ukraine were top of mind as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Iceland Sunday for a two-day summit with Nordic leaders.

Trudeau is a guest at the annual meeting of leaders from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, where global security was already high on the agenda before 24 hours of chaos in Russia threw even more uncertainty into the mix.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the mercenary Wagner Group that has been helping the Russian military invade Ukraine, led a brief armed rebellion through several Russian cities Saturday. He got within 200 kilometres of Moscow before calling the whole thing off.

Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone Sunday as questions continued to swirl about exactly what Prigozhin intended with his armed march, what effect it will have longer term on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power, and his ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy acknowledged their phone call on Twitter, describing it as the first in a series. He said he thanked Trudeau for his surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv earlier this month and acknowledged the pair discussed the weekend happenings in Russia.

On Saturday Trudeau convened a meeting of the federal government’s incident response group as the rebellion unfolded, and G7 foreign ministers held a call to discuss the situation – but then the whole thing ended almost as quickly as it began.

Russia and Prigozhin appeared to strike a deal that will see the mercenary leader move to Belarus and his Wagner troops rejoin Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion had already caused new problems for Arctic security before this latest turn of events.

Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have all voiced support for Ukraine since Russia launched its attack, and they, along with Canada and the United States, hit pause on working with Russia through the Arctic Council after its invasion in February 2022.

Mathieu Landriault, director of the Observatory for Arctic Policy and Security, said the issue remains “fragile,” adding that without co-operation with Russia – which has a huge Arctic coastline – the council does not have data related to how climate change is affecting a major part of the region.

Landriault also suggested Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused Canada to “reassess” its position in the Arctic.

Roland Paris, a former senior adviser to Trudeau and director of the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, said cutting Russia out of the Arctic council talks turned what co-operation looks like in the region into a serious question.

NATO has also been paying increasing attention to the Arctic in light of aggression from both Russia and China, Paris added. The Nordic leaders’ summit is happening less than three weeks before NATO leaders travel to Lithuania to meet with allies and discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Sweden is the only Nordic country not a member of the military alliance, after Finland joined in April. Sweden is seeking membership, and Canada was the first country to ratify that request.

Landriault said the meeting in Iceland serves as a chance for Canada and the Nordic countries to demonstrate further support for Sweden’s entry into NATO, which Turkey and Hungary have not endorsed.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned of growing threats to Arctic sovereignty from Russia and China during a visit to a military base in northern Alberta last summer, noting China has declared itself a “near Arctic” state and climate change was opening up access to the region.

Trudeau, who accompanied Stoltenberg on that visit, touted plans to spend billions on bolstering Canada’s military, including modernizing the aging Canada-U. S. Norad system which monitors Arctic aerospace.

Paris said he expects Trudeau may draw attention to those same commitments during his visit to Iceland.

“The fact is we are far behind where we need to be in order to secure the Arctic in a world where it will increasingly be an area of geopolitical competition,” he said.

Iceland’s government says “societal resilience” will be discussed at the meeting, which is being staged on a group of islands known as Vestmannaeyjar and coincides with the 50th anniversary of a volcanic eruption there.

Trudeau’s office said the meetings offer a chance to advance common interests with the Nordic nations, which range from protecting the environment and developing clean energy to tackling security challenges.

Besides a shared interest in security, the Canadian government also has trade interests with the five Nordic countries, with two-way trade totalling roughly $13 billion last year.

Canada is also home to the largest number of Icelandic immigrants and descendants outside that country.

The two countries view each other as like-minded and share interests on a range of issues, including the development of carbon capture and storage technology and ocean protection.

Trudeau was greeted Sunday at the Keflavik International Airport by Hlynur Guðjónsson, Iceland’s ambassador to Canada and Jeannette Menzies, Canada’s representative in Iceland, as well as the country’s chief protocol officer.

Trudeau’s visit follows Iceland President Gudni Jóhannesson’s recent visit to Canada, where the pair discussed expanding co-operation in green energy, ocean technology and aquaculture.

That trip, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s visit to Finland earlier this year and a 2022 Canada-Denmark agreement to resolve the border dispute over Hans Island were all signs that Canada was looking to enhance its diplomatic focus on Nordic countries, said Landriault.

“It’s likely to increase,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2023.

– With files from The Associated Press.

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