When the Biden administration nominated Michael Sfraga as special envoy for the Arctic, he did not disclose his deep history with Russia and China.
The Senate is scheduled to hold a confirmation vote for Sfraga on Tuesday, more than a year after his nomination was held up by Republicans who said he was too close to America's adversaries.
Sfraga has traveled extensively in Russia and China, and has spoken at events where Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered the keynote address.
Sfraga, an Alaskan native and geographer by training, is chairman of the Polar Institute and the U.S. Arctic Research Board and is seeking to lead the U.S. in diplomatic relations with eight Arctic nations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation and the United States.
Because of Sfraga's overseas ties, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote the FBI a letter in 2023 asking for its assistance in investigating Sfraga, according to information obtained by Fox News Digital.
He negotiated collaborative partnerships with Chinese academic institutions with ties to their defense and intelligence communities and spoke glowingly about America's two adversaries in interviews with various publications, but never revealed the full story until he was pressed by staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Dr. Michael Sfraga has been appointed Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic. (US Arctic Research Council)
Republican lawmakers said Sfraga had to update his disclosure three times because he forgot to mention records of visits and cooperation with leaders of China and Russia.
Risch held up Sfraga's nomination, sparking an internal GOP fight. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recommended Sfraga to the Biden administration and defended him on the committee. “If we have any issues as a committee, it's that he has so much Arctic expertise,” Murkowski said. “It's going to take time to wade through all of that.”
Sfraga played a key role in negotiating memoranda of understanding (legal documents establishing partnerships) between the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and Chinese universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which has been designated a “high threat” category for its suspected ties to advanced defense research and cyber attacks.
In addition to research and exchange programs, the partnership also included access to UAF’s IT infrastructure and involvement in policy and legal reviews on all Arctic topics.
In 2021, Sfraga Virtual Panel He spoke on the topic of “Arctic Cooperation and Environmental Sustainability at the Fort Ross Dialogue.” The event was sponsored by two Russian companies under U.S. sanctions, Transneft and Sovcomflot, as well as Chevron. His co-panellist was Nikolai Korchunov, Russia's Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Cooperation.
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The event highlighted cooperation with Russia on Arctic issues: in an interview with Voice of America's Russia service in 2021, Sfraga claimed that Russia and the US “don't understand each other” and said that “the Arctic is an integral part of Russia's DNA.”
In 2022 Newsweek article Regarding rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia in the Arctic, Sfraga reportedly lamented that the Arctic is no longer insulated from tensions in bilateral relations. He said it was “not a good thing” that the Arctic Council canceled a meeting with defense ministers, including Russia, following Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea. “I understand the motivation, but it's not a good thing that something like this happens,” he said.
In 2021, after Russia's annexation of Crimea and before the war in Ukraine, Sfraga advocated cooperation with Russia in the Arctic.
“If both countries, particularly the United States, are looking for places where they can actually cooperate with Russia as they are doing on the International Space Station and find paths to some level of productive engagement, I would argue that the Arctic offers at least some of the paths to a more predictable and stable relationship between the two countries,” he said.
At a Senate hearing in March, he took a tougher stance on Russia.
“Russia's war on Ukraine has made cooperation with Russia virtually impossible, including in the Arctic,” he said. “China is seeking to reshape the rules-based system of international assistance to its advantage, and is stepping up cooperation with Russia to increase its presence and influence in the Arctic and advance it in ways that threaten our interests.”
In 2017, Sfraga attended the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia, an event hosted by President Putin and attended by a number of government-sanctioned figures, where he spoke on a panel titled “The Arctic: A Realm of Experts.”
Asked about the event during a Senate hearing, Sfraga said, “It's hard to ignore half of the Arctic, which is Russia. The Arctic is a big region, but it's a small community, and you have to get involved. In fact, President Putin gave the keynote speech at one of those conferences, but I had no interaction with President Putin whatsoever.”
Michael Sfraga aims to lead diplomatic relations among the eight Arctic nations. (U.S. Air Force/Technical Sgt. Kurt Beach/Distributed via Reuters)
Sfraga has reportedly visited China at least six times to serve on panels on Arctic issues.
For example, in October 2019, he attended the Arctic China Forum in Shanghai and spoke on a panel titled “Arctic Council: A Model for Regional Cooperation.”
In November 2018, he attended the 11th Arctic Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he co-chaired the session “China's Arctic Policy: Opportunities and Challenges” with Dr. Yang Jian, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies.
In April 2016, he attended the Fulbright Arctic Initiative Symposium in Washington, DC, where he met with Chinese representatives from the China Polar Institute and the China Arctic and Antarctic Administration, and delivered a keynote speech titled “The Arctic in a Globalized World” at the China-Nordic Arctic Cooperation Symposium in Beijing.
Moreover, at an event in 2018 titled “Arctic Silk Road: China's Arctic Ambitions,” Sfraga was quoted as saying, “In the U.S., we think in four-second chunks: commercials, sound bites, bumper stickers. But the Chinese think in long stories. Stories spanning decades…” [The United States] think[s] It's about being responsive and being proactive… As we see polar ice continue to decline, we see both opportunities and challenges there.”
“As Arctic ice continues to disappear, there are both opportunities and challenges. It would be best to quickly consider how best to position our own interests and the interests of like-minded people. That doesn't mean we're at odds with China. I think there are ways to move forward that engage with them in very productive and meaningful ways. And that may be good for a lot of people. But either way, we shouldn't be fooled by false narratives.”
Michael Sfraga, an Alaskan native and geographer by trade, is chairman of the Arctic Institute and the U.S. Arctic Research Board. (Lance King/Getty Images)
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Sfraga also has ties to the Arctic, an organization that some fear could give China a bigger say in Arctic issues. Unlike the Arctic Council, which is only for Arctic nations, the Arctic Council also includes China, making it China's preferred platform for addressing Arctic issues.
Under Sfraga, the U.S. Arctic Research Council became an official partner of Arctic Affairs, but his involvement in Arctic events dates back to at least 2016. Olafur Grimsson, chair of Arctic Affairs, said: Sfraga's Description He said he was a “good friend” and looked forward to working with him when he was appointed head of the research council.
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Grimsson's name was on a list of pro-Russian European experts that Russia was seeking to use in its influence operations targeting the Baltic states. Report Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform reported that as Iceland's president in 2014, Grimsson spoke out against sanctions against Russia, called for the former U.S. military base in Keflavik to be handed over to Russia, and took part in events organized by the Russian government.
