Foreign Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb yesterday met with U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Relations with Russia were high on the agenda.

Details are emerging about a very friendly meeting on February 20th between top Canadian and Russian officials in Moscow. The meeting is said to have been about the two countries working together to achieve a level of cooperation on Arctic issues that has not been seen in the past.

President Dmitry Medvedev today signed the new Russian National Security Strategy for the period until 2020. The document reads that Russia will have a pragmatic and non-confrontational foreign policy, which excludes a new arms race.

Dead and injured seabirds have been found near “Petrozavodsk”, the Russian freezer ship that yesterday ran aground by the coast of the Bear Island in the Barents Sea.

Last week in a report released by the Canadian Senate standing committee on fisheries and oceans, it was recommended that the Defense Department give Canadian Rangers, it’ part-time reservist group, more control to patrol Arctic land and waters, making them “an integral part of the Canadian reserves”.

MURMANSK – The Russian government has adopted a climate doctrine for the country that will presumably allow changes to development programmes that take into account the forecasted effects of climate change on the economy. The document, which was composed without public consultation, is awaiting the approval of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The Russian government has adopted a climate doctrine, which is likely to commit the country to a number of climate-friendly measures. Climate change will affect Russia more than other countries, head of the Russian Hydrometeorological Service says.

The new state fishery corporation which is in the making in Russia will consist of 27 vessels and have 250 000 tons annual quotas, Head of the Russian State Committee of Fisheries Andrey Krainy says.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will on 19 May meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The High North and business cooperation will be on top of the agenda, Norwegian media reports.

MONTREAL -- Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak says she felt proud when she watched her daughter Karliin and classmates collect awards this week at the Montreal fur show for their original sealskin fashion designs. But apprehension was mixed with this pride.