On Thursday, a conference dealing with the development of Arctic cities, including Russian cities, opened in Washington D. C. The event is sponsored by the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University.

The conference involves academics from the United States, Russia, Finland, Norway, Canada and Estonia. Conference sections deal with Murmansk, Yakutsk and Eastern Siberia, as well as Norilsk, Igarka and Dudinka, and the Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka autonomous areas.

Oleg Anisimov, Climate Department Chief at the State Hydrological Institute in St. Petersburg, believes that the conference makes it possible for academics working in the most diverse areas to reach a consensus.

"The Arctic should be studied systemically… at an inter-disciplinary level, when people specializing in natural, humanitarian, political and economic sciences meet together, discuss a host of issues and begin to understand the interdependence of various disciplines (in terms of the extent of their knowledge) and learn how to speak together in a common language," Anisimov told RIA Novosti.