Russia's Foreign Policy Priorities in the Arctic Region Development at Current Stage

The article reviews the modern strategy of the Russian Federation in the space of its Arctic zone (AZRF) in various fields of activity, taking into account national interests in matters of geopolitics, economics, defense and security, as well as the preservation of easily vulnerable Arctic nature and ecosystems. The Arctic zone of Russia is a special object of state policy; it occupies an important place in ensuring the strategic interests of the country. The documents of strategic planning approved by the President of Russia define key directions and priorities for the development of the Arctic zone, formulate a comprehensive program of transformations for the period until 2035, define measures for social, economic, infrastructural, scientific, technological, environmental development of the Arctic zone, and interaction in the field of international cooperation in modern conditions. Russia turned out to be ready to the actions of Western countries to contain Russia in the Arctic. The sanctions imposed by the West did not have a destructive impact on the development of the Russian Arctic zone or investment projects. The results of the development of the Russian Arctic for the period 2022-2023 indicate positive dynamics in solving the assigned tasks in the most important areas: industrial infrastructure, the Northern Sea Route, the fuel and energy complex, the development of natural resources and a number of others. New facilities and enterprises are being commissioned; the volume of investments in 2023 exceeded 9.7 billion rubles. In the new conditions, Russia continues to build a multi-vector foreign policy in the Arctic. Significant results have been achieved in attracting friendly states to partner cooperation in order to implement projects in the Russian Arctic zone.

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