Russia Joins US, 23 Other Governments in Pact to Advance Arctic Research

The United States, Russia and Canada were among 25 governments to ink a joint statement on Arctic scientific research priorities, the White House announced in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Participants signed a "joint statement on increased international collaboration on Arctic science and inclusion of Indigenous peoples in understanding and responding to changes in the Arctic," the release explained on Wednesday.

The plan includes a new five-year project to develop an Integrated Arctic Observing System. The effort will be coordinated by Norway with scientists from 14 European countries, as well as the United States, Russia and China, according to the release.

The joint statement was signed at the first-ever Arctic Science Ministerial meeting hosted at the White House.

Also at the event, the United States released an Arctic-wide digital elevation model, which was created by the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the US National Science Foundation, the release stated.

The digital representation of the Arctic land surface has an unprecedented high resolution of 8 meters, according to the release, noted.