Last week’s EU-Russia session in Khabarovsk, the Russian Far East, displayed not only big geographical distances to Central Europe, but also the continued big gap in EU and Russian positions on energy and security. More dialogue is needed both parts agreed.

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that the alliance should increase its role in the High North. Deputy Minister of Defence Espen Barth Eide believes this should be done in cooperation with Russia.

Head of the Russian Federal Fishery Agency Andrey Krainy says cooperation with Norway over trawler fleet modernization is a necessity.

In the May 19th edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, geoscientists from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University say that sediments deposited in the ocean by the Colville, Mackenzie and other Arctic rivers have long been ignore as an area of study that could lead to a better understanding of what the Earth’s climate will do in the upcoming decades.

Thousands of researchers haling from more than 60 different countries took advantage of the International Polar Year to study regions in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Sami reindeer herders in northern Norway call for stricter regulations of all non-Sami activities in their pasture land. That prepares the ground for conflicts with the other population in the region.

UNITED NATIONS -- Leaders of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples who are attending an international meeting here this week say they want governments to stop oil and gas corporations from further extraction on their lands.

Despite resent criticism that Russia is being extremely aggressive when it comes to its rights in the Arctic, the country has once again reached out to another Arctic power in search of cooperation and a peaceful solution to the growing issue of who has what claim to the Arctic and its energy resources.

There is serious progress, serious achievements and good perspectives in Russian-Norwegian cooperation, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin highlighted after yesterday’s meeting with Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg.

The Arctic is not an issue Russia-EU relations, Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Euractiv.com