Speaking at a news conference in Brussels last week, following the European Commission's adoption of a new integrated Arctic policy for the supranational union, Mogherini emphasized that the EU has a clear need to cooperate with powers that have a stake in the Artic region, Russia included.
"This is a clear interest of the European Union to further engage with all actors, including Russia, on the Artic," Mogherini said, according to Brussels-based news site EurActiv.
The diplomat's words come on the heels of a decision by European foreign ministers last month to extend anti-Russian sanctions, ostensibly over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which Western governments have blamed on Moscow.
Mogherini explained the apparent discrepancy in policy away by noting that European officials had agreed on a policy of "selective engagement" with Russia in areas where there was a "clear European interest," the Artic being one of those areas.
"The Arctic clearly poses not only huge potential but also some critical challenges that we need to discuss together and also to which we need to find common answers," she said.
Brussels' multi-pronged approach in the Artic focuses on environmental, economic, social, and foreign and security policy, according to the policy document approved Wednesday. The Arctic, Mogherini explained, was "the only place in the world where three continents and major players in the world meet."
The Artic shelf is believed to hold enormous deposits of oil and natural gas. Five countries bordering the area are particularly interested in exploiting the Artic region, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark.
Earlier this month, Igor Veselov, the Russian Emergencies Ministry's envoy to the EU, said that the complicated international political situation has had no negative effect on joint projects in the Artic involving Russia, be it with the United States or with other states.
