We’re watching the grab for Greenland closely, Russia warns

Russia has put the US President-elect Donald Trump on notice about Greenland, saying it is “watching the rather dramatic development of the situation very closely”.

The village of Kangaamiut in Greenland in July. Picture: AFP

Russia has warned that it has its own strategic interests in the Arctic and that it is watching Donald Trump’s ambitions to acquire Greenland for the United States “very closely”.

The president-elect, who takes office on January 20, has refused to rule out using military or economic action to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Arctic territory of Denmark, a Nato member state.

He has also suggested that Washington could use military force to seize the Panama Canal and that Canada should become the 51st state of the US.

“The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, our strategic interests,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said.

“We are interested in preserving the atmosphere of peace and stability in the Arctic zone. We are watching the rather dramatic development of the situation very closely, but so far, thank God, at the level of statements.”

The Kremlin has stepped up its military presence in the Arctic in recent years, opening new permanent bases and deploying its most advanced anti-aircraft missiles to the region as it seeks to control large reserves of oil and gas in disputed waters.

Scientists say that by 2050 much of the Arctic region will be ice-free in summer, opening up new opportunities for lucrative commercial shipping along the northern sea route, a passageway from northern Europe to Asia that the Kremlin is touting as a faster alternative to the Suez Canal.

China is also seeking to expand its foothold in the Arctic.

Peskov accused European countries of failing to condemn Trump’s threats.

“Europe reacts very timidly and it is of course scary to react to Trump’s words, therefore Europe reacts very cautiously, modestly, quietly, almost in a whisper,” he said.

Both France and Germany have sharply criticised Trump over his remarks.

Greenland is part of the kingdom of Denmark but it is keen to push for independence. Picture: AFP

Trump’s comments will be “music to many ears in Moscow and Beijing”, according to Professor Michael Clarke, former director-general of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London.

“Another drift back into an imperialist world where the big powers think they have a natural right to take whatever they want,” he wrote on X.

Asked if he took Trump’s threats to Greenland seriously, David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, told reporters on Thursday: “I think what he’s got in his sights is concerns in the Arctic – which we share – about Russian and Chinese influence.

“He knows that Greenland is [part of the] kingdom of Denmark, but he also knows that there is a debate in Greenland in relation to their self-determination.

“So I think he knows what he’s up to.”

-The Times