Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Russian and (b) Chinese counterparts on the Arctic.

Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Officials from our Embassy Moscow discussed the importance of continued international cooperation in the Arctic with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 6 May. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official also attended the Fifth International Arctic Forum in St Petersburg on 9 April. The Head of Polar Regions Department, in the FCO, attended the recent Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland and spoke with the Head of the Chinese Delegation on the margins. Officials from the British Consulate-General in Shanghai will attend the Arctic Circle Forum on 10-11 May in Shanghai to further understand China's interest in the region.

Hansard

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