Russia is watching Trump’s claim to Greenland very carefully

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is closely monitoring the situation after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to seize Greenland from Denmark.

Peskov said the Arctic is within Russia’s “national and strategic interests and is interested in peace and stability there.”

Trump’s comments on Greenland – a largely autonomous Danish territory – have drawn warnings from European leaders.

Kaja Kallas, the head of the EU’s foreign affairs, insisted that “we must respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland”, and the German Olaf Scholz made it clear that “the borders should not be moved by force”.

Trump said earlier this week that the US needs Denmark and the Panama Canal for “economic security,” and refused to use economic or military force to take them.

He also referred to the border with Canada as an “artificially drawn line”. Denmark and Canada are both US NATO allies.

Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s claims were a matter for the US, Denmark and other nations, but Russia was seeing the situation surrounding his remarks as “quite dramatic”. “We are present in the arctic area, and we will continue there,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to ease concerns about the outgoing president’s statements during a visit to Paris: “The idea… is obviously not good, but perhaps more importantly, it’s obviously not going to happen.”

About 56,000 people live in Greenland, where US and Danish military bases are located. It also has a great wealth of unexploited minerals and oil.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has opted for independence, even though the territory’s economy is heavily dependent on Danish subsidies.

Both he and the Danish leader emphasized that “he is not for sale” and that his future is in the hands of the Greenlanders.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy downplayed Trump’s comments, although he admitted that “the intensity of his speech and the unpredictability of what he says at times can be destabilizing”.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Copenhagen has a clear interest in the US – “absolutely its closest ally” – playing a key role at a time of rising tensions in the North Atlantic, especially with Russia.

The European Commission said Trump’s threat to Greenland was “highly theoretical” and “highly hypothetical” given that he was not yet in office.

However, he confirmed that Greenland, as an overseas territory, is subject to a mutual assistance clause, which requires all EU states to provide their support in the event of an attack.

The Kremlin scoffed at the European response, suggesting it was reacting “very timidly … almost in a whisper.”

Last week, Greenland’s leader said the territory needed to free itself from “the shackles of colonialism”, although he did not mention the US.

Greenland’s former foreign minister, Pele Broberg, who now heads the largest opposition party, told the BBC that most Greenlanders he spoke to believed the US was essential to their defense and security.

“We’re part of the North American continent, so the US defense is in a perfect place with respect to Greenland, because we create a buffer zone that doesn’t need to be militarized.”

He has called for a trade and defense “free association agreement” with the US that would give Greenland independence, but give the US responsibility for security.

Trump’s allies have strengthened their views on Greenland.

Keith Kellogg, Trump’s pick to end the war in Ukraine, said many of the president-elect’s statements about Greenland make sense, “putting the United States in a position of global leadership.”

Republican congressman Mike Walz told Fox News that the issue “wasn’t just about Greenland, it was about the Arctic” because Russia was trying to seize control of the polar region, with its mineral and natural resources.

“Denmark can be a great ally, but you can’t treat Greenland, because they have operational control, as some sort of backwater; it’s in the Western Hemisphere.”