Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the future working of the Arctic Council without the participation of Russia.

As a State Observer to the Arctic Council, the UK strongly supported the decision of the seven other Arctic States to pause their engagement with the Russian Chairmanship of the Council as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

We will continue to engage with our Arctic State partners and Allies on issues such as climate change, and we stand ready to recommence participation in multilateral cooperation across the Arctic region when appropriate.