PORA Experts Joined MGIMO Meeting with Students
March 04, 2026
On March 3, 2026, Ekaterina Serova, Director of the Department International Affairs at the PORA Expert Center, met with students of the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy at MGIMO University.
During the meeting of the Arctic student club, participants examined the historical-political, legal, and economic aspects of Greenlandic autonomy, the current state of relations within the Denmark-Greenland-USA triangle, and the most problematic issues concerning Chinese presence in Greenland. The meeting participants also discussed the potential consequences for Russia stemming from the intentions and actions of the US administration regarding Greenland.
«The resource and economic potential, as well as the military-strategic importance of Greenland for the United States of America, can hardly be overstated. The extremely challenging, inhospitable natural conditions prevent the Americans from rapidly strengthening their positions in the Western Hemisphere—which the US perceives as its sphere of exclusive interest—through this island. Although Greenland could be considered as a new positional area for missile defense, the most likely scenario would be strengthening the island in terms of anti-submarine defense, especially considering that the Faroe-Icelandic Gap was originally conceived as a NATO anti-submarine defense line against Soviet submarines. There were no icebreakers capable of ensuring a permanent presence, and none are foreseeable in the near future. And the ongoing disputes, centered on the ‘right of the strong’ to determine the fate of Greenland and the Greenlanders, will not significantly impact Russia’s security,»
- Ekaterina Serova told the students
The expert discussion also featured Andrey Krivorotov, Academic Supervisor of the «Arctic» Club and Acting Head of the Innovation Management Department at the Odintsovo branch of MGIMO, a PORA expert, and Nikita Lipunov, Junior Research Fellow at the Institute for International Studies, MGIMO.
Assessing the recently gained positive experience of participating in the BRICS International Laboratory, the students expressed interest in holding regular, practice-oriented events on Arctic topics at the PORA platform, Serova reported.
The Arctic research club at MGIMO’s International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy has been operating since 2015. Experts regularly invited to the club’s events include representatives from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Roshydromet, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).
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