EU and Russian Foreign Policy in the Arctic as a Factor in Shaping Ukraine's Strategy in the Earth's Polar Regions

Abstract

The geopolitical importance of the Arctic has been growing in recent decades as leading global and regional nations seek to implement new strategic and economic opportunities. This study analyses the content of strategic policy documents that define the principles of foreign policy in the Arctic region of the two main actors in world politics on the Eurasian continent – the European Union and the Russian Federation – who have different strategic visions of the region, as well as the activities of Ukraine in the polar regions. The paper demonstrates that the principles of EU foreign policy in the region are aimed at protecting the rights of citizens of the Arctic EU Member States, balanced development of the region with a clear imperative for environmental protection and research to this end. In turn, Russia's policy in the Arctic has a clear military-strategic priority, especially since 2014, subsequent to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the occupation of eastern Ukraine. Considering this, further tasks of Ukraine's foreign policy in the Arctic region should be to make full use of Ukraine's integration potential into the European Research Area and to join the European Green Course as an ambitious EU integration project. Furthermore, foreign policy should also include the development, maintenance, and strengthening of all available international legal mechanisms and instruments to counter the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, which is fully in line with Ukraine's recently approved Foreign Policy Strategy