Foreign researchers are expected to take part in a Russian Arctic expedition at the North Pole 2020 drifting station, said Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador at Large for International Cooperation in the Arctic Nikolai Korchunov.

"Of course, they will come [as expedition members] because intergovernmental agreements on international Arctic cooperation are in place. Research has a trans-border nature. Foreign researchers are supposed to participate but it is yet too early to say exactly who, in what form and from which countries," said Korchunov.

The main objective of the North Pole 2020 research program is to carry out an annual cycle of research in the Arctic. Twenty research institutes and five universities are to be involved in the activities of the North Pole 2020 expedition which will take place between September 2020 and July 2021.