By Eric Holm-Olsen, U.S. Consul General in Vladivostok

Last month I had the opportunity to see opposite ends of the Russian Far East, when I visited Kamchatka as well as the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). In addition to the hospitality of the people and the natural beauty of the landscapes of both regions, I found something else in common – a great interest in the Arctic. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, port modernization is a priority as the Northern Sea Route becomes more navigable due to the melting polar ice cap. Kamchatka hopes to play a vital role in accommodating an expected increase in maritime traffic in the region. In Yakutia, the connection is perhaps even more obvious, where 40% of the Republic lies above the Arctic Circle, and Yakutsk is home to the Secretariat of the Northern Forum, an international NGO that serves as a vehicle for northern regional leaders to share experience and address common challenges.

The Russian Far East, of course, is the region where Russia and the United States share a border and literally become neighbors. Like Russia, the United States is an Arctic nation, and, on April 24, will take over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The United States participates in the Arctic Council under the leadership of the Department of State, and in anticipation of the upcoming U.S. chairmanship, Secretary of State Kerry announced last July that retired Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Robert Papp would lead our efforts in representing U.S. interests in the Arctic Region as the State Department’s Special Representative for the Arctic.

Many other agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Interior, Energy, Commerce, Transportation, and Homeland Security (Coast Guard), the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Arctic Research Commission, and the State of Alaska support or actively participate in the Arctic Council’s work. The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses primarily environmental protection and sustainable development issues in the Arctic region. The eight founding nations (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States) of the 1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy comprise the Member States of the Arctic Council. Six Arctic indigenous groups hold Permanent Participant status, and a number of other countries and organizations are accredited observers. The Council meets every two years at the Ministerial level to coordinate Council activities and oversee the work of the six working groups.

For its two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the United States has chosen the slogan “One Arctic: Shared Opportunities, Challenges and Responsibilities,” and announced three themes that it will focus on: mitigating the effects of climate change, Arctic Ocean safety, security, and stewardship, and the economic and living conditions of Arctic communities (including renewable energy, sanitation, public health and telecommunications). Regarding climate change, Admiral Papp has said that “as an Arctic nation, we have a moral obligation to use our human, financial, and scientific resources to help those in the region find ways to adapt to these changes and to significantly reduce the pollutants driving global climate change.

Earlier this year, Admiral Papp visited Moscow, met with his Russian counterpart, and declared the meeting both productive and significant in that it addressed a vital area of cooperation between our two countries, despite ongoing tensions in the bilateral relationship. In the weeks since that meeting, he has reiterated the importance of maintaining open communications with Russia on Arctic issues, as well as the U.S. commitment to such openness.

Here in the Russian Far East, we too are committed to building bridges and increasing mutual understanding between our two countries, and we hope that U.S. leadership of the Arctic Council will provide a variety of opportunities for greater people-to-people ties, through shared academic research, university exchanges, conferences, and seminars. Next year, for example, the University of Alaska – Fairbanks (which already enjoys close cooperation with partners in Kamchatka and Yakutia) will host a Model Arctic Council for students from all eight Arctic states, and with Dartmouth College will also co-lead the Fulbright Arctic Initiative, an 18-month interdisciplinary collaborative research initiative focused on the Arctic region that will take place during the U.S. Arctic Council chairmanship.

The United States is committed to working with Russia and all its partners in the Arctic Council to advance shared objectives and looks forward to its 2015-17 Chairmanship.