At the third Arctic Circle Assembly held in Iceland, Norway's Academy of Science voiced interest in establishing cooperation between Russian and Norwegian academic centers for the development of joint Arctic projects, according to the press office of the Governor of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia.

Yakutia took part in the forum for the second time this year. The delegation included Vladimir Vasilyev, Republic of Sakha Minister for Federative and External Relations; Eduard Klimov, advisor to the Republic of Sakha Governor on Federative and External Relations;H Mikhail Pogodayev, Acting Executive Director of the Northern Forum; and Valery Protopopov, head of the Federative and External Ministry's State Protocol Directorate.

At the assembly, participants discussed the climate, natural resources, environmental protection, development of the Northern Sea Route as well as the participation of countries in industrial exploitation of the Arctic, Minister Vladimir Vasilyev said. The Republic of Sakha also held a subpanel discussion on cooperation development, which was joined by Russian Ambassador to Iceland Anton Vasilyev and Mayor of the Icelandic town of Akureyri Eiríkur Björn Björgvinsson.

The minister added that the Arctic Circle Assembly is the world's largest forum for discussing Arctic development. This year, it brought together 1,900 participants from 50 countries.