(Bloomberg) -- Russia announced it’s withdrawing from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, which it said had been “virtually paralyzed” since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow accused Finland, which currently holds the body’s rotating presidency, of “disrupting” preparations for Russia to assume the leadership in October. There was no immediate response from Finland.

Russia also blamed the council’s other members, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the European Commission, for a lack of cooperation since it started the war last year.

How Arctic Tensions Are Fueled by War, Global Warming: QuickTake

The council was established in 1993 to foster cooperation among states in the Barents Sea area with the aim of avoiding a repeat of the military tensions that built up during the Cold War.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.