{"id":77712,"date":"2017-05-11T00:50:25","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T00:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/canada-russia-u-s-tensions-could-overshadow-arctic-council-meeting.html"},"modified":"2017-05-11T00:50:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T00:50:25","slug":"canada-russia-u-s-tensions-could-overshadow-arctic-council-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/canada-russia-u-s-tensions-could-overshadow-arctic-council-meeting.html","title":{"rendered":"Canada-Russia-U.S. tensions could overshadow Arctic Council meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Canada&#8217;s foreign minister is joining her Russian and U.S. counterparts Thursday for an intimate gathering to discuss environmental concerns\u00a0in the north.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">U.S. affirms commitment to Arctic climate change research<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But the conversations on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting will likely be of great\u00a0interest, given the growing political tensions between the three largest participants.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson\u00a0and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey\u00a0Lavrov are among the eight political representatives attending the meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska.<\/p>\n<p>The sit-down comes at a time of growing international instability.<\/p>\n<p>A government source\u00a0with direct knowledge of the summit said\u00a0Canada is keen to stick to the issues on the agenda, but acknowledged there will likely be opportunities for &#8220;real conversations&#8221;\u00a0in private\u00a0on other topics.<\/p>\n<h2>Tensions in the room<\/h2>\n<p>The ongoing investigation of Russian involvement in the U.S. election\u00a0could easily become a source of friction in Alaska, but there are also concerns involving Canada that could emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ottawa&#8217;s relationship with Moscow certainly hasn&#8217;t\u00a0grown cozier in the wake of Freeland&#8217;s appointment as foreign minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3948958.1492043426!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/cabinet-retreat-20170123.jpg\" alt=\"Cabinet Retreat 20170123\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland is representing Canada at the Arctic Council meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, Thursday. (Todd Korol\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>In March, she was targeted in a smear campaign appearing on pro-Russian websites that\u00a0link her grandfather to Nazi Germany. When asked about the articles,\u00a0Freeland\u00a0warned Canada should be prepared for\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Russian attempts to destabilize its democracy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before she even took on the role, she was already\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">subject to Russian sanctions<\/a>, which ban her from travelling to the country. In 2014, Russia announced a series of retaliatory measures\u00a0against Canadian officials after Canada levelled sanctions against Russia\u00a0for its actions in Crimea.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Freeland\u00a0and\u00a0Lavrov\u00a0have crossed paths before, but never in such close quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Anti-trade rhetoric<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Canada-U.S. relationship has changed dramatically. Since Donald Trump took office, Ottawa launched an intensive\u00a0charm offensive\u00a0to ensure key aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, like trade, continue to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>Despite those efforts, Canada has been on the receiving end of Trump&#8217;s anti-trade rhetoric.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">&#8216;It&#8217;s pretty much chaos right now&#8217;: U.S.-Canada trade tensions offer plenty to talk about<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One former Canadian diplomat is urging Freeland to hold frank discussions in private with her counterparts, to speak to\u00a0some of these growing issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Often the most important part of these\u00a0are not what&#8217;s discussed in a public roundtable &#8230; it&#8217;s what takes place in the corridor, that&#8217;s what counts,&#8221;\u00a0said Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat.<\/p>\n<h2>Softwood and hacking<\/h2>\n<p>Robertson expects Freeland\u00a0to\u00a0seek out a private discussion with Tillerson, to\u00a0address the ongoing softwood lumber dispute. Canada is <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">threatening multiple trade actions <\/a>against the U.S. in response to new duties imposed on Canadian softwood.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think she&#8217;ll ask for a readout on where things are at,&#8221; Robertson said, adding Tillerson will likely want the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Russian hacking is another issue Robertson thinks should be raised if Freeland is able to secure a private discussion with Lavrov.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4107498.1494374155!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/usa-russia-tillerson.jpg\" alt=\"USA-RUSSIA\/TILLERSON\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrive for a news conference following talks in Russia last month. (Sergei Karpukhin\/Reuters)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got an election in Britain coming up, an election in Germany, where certainly all the signals are the Russians are playing their games again,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;So I think it is appropriate for Canada to raise this concern, and it&#8217;s appropriate to do it foreign minister to foreign minister.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Arctic agenda<\/h2>\n<p>Freeland&#8217;s office said\u00a0Canada will push several key issues at the meeting, including &#8220;advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples,&#8221; especially when it comes to addressing mental wellness, education\u00a0and climate change.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to a statement, Freeland will also look for a path to building a sustainable Arctic economy, and ways to encourage and preserve &#8220;science-based decision making.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever political tensions emerge at the summit, the government official said Canada is more than willing to co-operate with all Arctic nations on issues of mutual interest.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n<p>Article source: http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/freeland-attends-arctic-council-meeting-1.4108729?cmp=rss<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canada&#8217;s foreign minister is joining her Russian and U.S. counterparts Thursday for an intimate gathering to discuss environmental concerns\u00a0in the north. U.S. affirms commitment to Arctic climate change research But the conversations on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting will likely be of great\u00a0interest, given the growing political tensions between the three largest participants. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-77712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}