Photo credit: Mikhail Ivanovich Lukin, the press service of the Russian Academy of Sciences / commons.wikimedia.org (CC BY 4.0)
Cooperation between scientists from Russia and Western countries should be fully resumed, this is necessary for the protection of the environment and the development of science, according to scientists from the United States and Great Britain, who answered questions from RIA Novosti.
The political conflict between Russia and Western countries has slowed down joint research in the Arctic and other projects important to humanity. In March, the Western countries that are members of the Arctic Council suspended joint work, seeking to scientifically isolate Russia. As a result, the representatives of these states have lost access to a significant part of the Arctic, controlled by Russia.
Professor of Arctic ecology at the British University of Sheffield Terry Callaghan said that until recently, Western scientists could work at Russian scientific stations, but now there is no such possibility.
According to him, cooperation with Russia is fundamentally important for solving key issues related to the study of the Arctic. Russophobia in the scientific community, unleashed for political reasons, threatens the joint work of many years.
The Beringia Common Legacy program, uniting Russian and American scientists for 30 years, followed the same fate. The project aims to explore and preserve the nature of the Bering Strait region.
Leading researcher at the Department of Biology at the Wood Hole Institute of Oceanography Donald Andersen said that due to anti-Russian sentiment, American scientists will not be able to meet Russian colleagues this fall, the planned visit was postponed, and work has slowed down.
The head of the Center for Arctic Security and Resilience at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Troy Bouffard, called the suspension of cooperation with Russian scientists on the Arctic issue a huge loss for science.
American and British scientists believe that a return to full cooperation will take many years. They are sure that science should develop outside of politics, especially in areas that are important for the entire planet.
Russkiy Mir
