“Low expectations when Löfven meets Putin”
“Prime minister Stefan Löfven (S) meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin one-on-one care for the first time.”
“But it will not lead to any major breakthrough in the countries’ relationship, the track experts that TT talked with.”
“Stefan Löfven using, inter alia, the meeting with Vladimir Putin in st. Petersburg to give his views on the annexation of Crimea, according to Martin Kragh, russia researcher at the institute of Foreign affairs.”
” the Meeting will be the message from the Swedish perspective. So you have no expectations that this will lead to any qualitative change in the Swedish-Russian relations. However, there is an ambition from the Swedish government that there should be regular exchanges at the highest political level. This meeting is in line with the visit of Margot Wallström, graduated in Moscow in 2017, ” says Martin Kragh to the TT.”
“No more expectations”
“That a Swedish prime minister not met with Vladimir Putin several years include the development of bilateral difficulties over the last years between countries, according to Kjell Engelbrekt, professor of political science at the Swedish national defence college.”
” I don’t think you should expect any kind of breakthrough in the broader perspective. It is really a small step towards normalisation between the relations. But to call this a normalization is certainly too early, it is a small step towards that direction, ” says Kjell Engelbrekt.”
“the Theme of the conference is Arctic, and the region is important, not least for security reasons.”
“– It is assumed there are vast natural resources in the Arctic and they become available for exploitation as the ice sheet melts away. We also see that Russia has started to build up the military presence in the area as they had during the Soviet era, ” says Martin Kragh.”
“Kjell Engelbrekt says that there has been an increased militarisation of the Arctic, pointing at the fact that Russia recently moved two air wings to the arctic region. At the same time, he brings up the environmental issue and believe that there is a willingness from the Swedish side to influence Russia to take the questions on, inter alia, fish stocks very seriously.”
“– Implications for fiskeribeståndet, I believe that this is an important issue. And with that there is a heating move also stocks all the more to the north to the cooler and colder parts of the arctic region. It will have consequences for the fishing industry, but also the ability to have a sustainable fishery for several generations to come, ” says Kjell Engelbrekt.”
” I think that in countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland realize it. This may need Russia to be convinced of the importance of sustainability in the fish stocks.”
“the Conference International arctic forum held in st. Petersburg, Russia, on 9-10 april. The conference is organized by the Russian foundation Roscongress. This is the fifth conference since its inception in 2010.”
“this Year’s theme is the arctic region as a sea of opportunities, with an emphasis on transport. The nordic countries are represented at high level by, among others, prime minister Stefan Löfven, Norway’s prime minister Erna Solberg and president of Finland Sauli Niinistö.”
“the Main objective of the forum is to improve the living conditions in the arctic region, preservation of its unique environment and strengthen international cooperation around the issues.”
“Source: the Government, Arcticportal, the International arctic forum”
