Russia ‘observing’ Greenland situation; Europe cautious on Trump remarks 

london —

Russia said it was closely monitoring the situation with Greenland, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark.

“We are observing this rather dramatic development of the situation, but so far, thank God, [it remains] at the level of statements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

“The Arctic zone is a zone of our national and strategic interests. We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be there,” added Peskov.

The vast area of ​​Greenland — most of which lies above the Arctic Circle — has officially been part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1953, although the island has its own government.

National security

Asked at a news conference in Florida on Tuesday, Trump said the United States needed Greenland for security purposes, and refused to rule out using economic or military means to achieve that goal.

“People don’t really even know if Denmark has any legal right to do that. But if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. It’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world,” Trump said.

“You’ve got Chinese ships everywhere. You’ve got Russian ships everywhere. We’re not going to let that happen,” he added.

Like much of the Arctic, Greenland is warming rapidly. This is changing the geopolitics of the region, said analyst Liana Fix of the Council on Foreign Relations.

“The Arctic is increasingly becoming a zone of great power competition and rivalry. And the United States is worried that it is losing this game,” Fix said.

“The Arctic is becoming much more accessible, both for trade in goods and for critical minerals, especially rare earths [minerals]”, Fix said. “And it’s also becoming an increasingly militarized zone,” she added, noting that Russia is cooperating with China’s coast guard in the region.

Not for sale

Denmark has clearly said that Greenland is not for sale. Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen rejected the suggestion that Trump’s comments represented a foreign policy crisis for his government.

“I see the president who is on his way to the White House, who has an increased focus on the Arctic, and I can understand that he has that. We also have that from the Danish side, and we have that within NATO as well,” Rasmussen said on Wednesday.

Denmark faces a dilemma, said analyst Fix.

“And for Denmark, it is very clear that increased cooperation with the United States, both in terms of investment in Greenland and military cooperation, would actually be in everyone’s interest,” Fix told Voice of America.

Several European leaders dismissed Trump’s comments, though most stopped short of directly criticizing the incoming US president.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that basic Western values ​​are at stake.

“The principle of inviolability of borders applies to every country, regardless of whether it is located east or west of us,” he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was more direct. “It is out of the question for the European Union to allow any nation in the world, whoever it is – and let me start with Russia – to define its sovereign borders,” he said on Wednesday.

Independence of Greenland

Greenland’s government, meanwhile, is pushing for a referendum on full independence and has said only the people will decide Greenland’s future.

“Greenland is on its way to a new era and a new year in which Greenland was in the center of world attention. Greenlanders are one people, no matter where they live. And as people in the time we live in, we must be united in order to be ready for the new the future our country is on its way to,” Prime Minister Mute Egede said during a visit to Copenhagen on Thursday.