Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto believes that countering climate change in the Arctic without Russia's participation will become impossible, according to a Financial Times article.

In the opinion of the politician, the end of interaction may result in “an Arctic with no rules, or an Arctic area with no common goal for climate change. It would be free for everyone to use for shipping routes, for raw materials.”

He said[jd1]  the Arctic Council (AC) without Russia's participation would lose relevance, given that 40 percent of the Arctic region was part of the Russian Federation.

"The agenda we want to promote in the Arctic doesn’t make much sense without Russia,” the minister said.

It should be recalled that in spring 2022, Western states decided not to participate in the activities of the AC working bodies during the Russian presidency because of the special military operation in Ukraine.