The article is devoted to the analysis of the state and prospects of international cooperation of Russia, China and the United States in the Arctic. The authors consider the problems and contradictions that impede these countries in the search for agreement and interaction in this region. Special attention is paid to the issues of ensuring the environmental safety of the Arctic territory, the inadmissibility of its militarization, the preservation of the natural resources of the Arctic for future generations. The authors predict that in the future tensions in world politics over the sphere of influence in the Arctic zone will increase.