Russia is closely monitoring Donald Trump’s ongoing quest to “acquire” Greenland, the Kremlin said.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would not rule out using military force to seize the strategically important Arctic island that is an autonomous territory of Denmark, saying it was in the US’s economic and national interest.
They have found some support in Russia, with several officials close to President Vladimir Putin saying any US move to claim Greenland would legitimize Russia’s expansionist goals and ambitions to bring former Soviet territories, such as the Baltics, back into its own sphere of influence and power.
European leaders have warned President-elect Trump not to seize Greenland, saying such a move would violate international borders, while Denmark and Greenland have said the island, where the US has a military base, is “not for sale”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNBC on Thursday that Russia is closely monitoring the situation.
“We are monitoring the situation in Greenland”
“We are watching the rhetoric on these issues coming out of Washington with great interest,” Peskov said in an emailed comment to CNBC.
Earlier Mr. Peskov, while briefing journalists, stressed that it is necessary to ensure peace and stability in the Arctic, “an area of Russia’s national interests”
“The Arctic is an area of our national and strategic interests. We are and will remain present in the Arctic territory,” he noted when asked by TASS.
“We are interested in maintaining an atmosphere of peace and stability and are ready to work with all countries to ensure peace and stability everywhere, including the Arctic,” he added. In the Kremlin’s first public comments on the matter, Peskov told reporters that “Trump’s claims are probably more of a matter of bilateral relations between the United States and Denmark.”
“So far, thank God, [η κατάσταση παραμένει] at the level of statements”, he underlined.
Greenland is an autonomous region within the Kingdom of Denmark, but has ties to the US, with US military installations built on the island after World War II. During the war, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, prompting Copenhagen and the US to sign an agreement in 1941 to give the US control of Greenland’s defenses.
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