Vladimir Putin said Russia considers US plans to annex Greenland ‘serious’ and worries NATO could use the Arctic as a ‘springboard’ for future conflicts.
He said Russia will station more military personnel in the Arctic and his country would defend its interests in the region, adding that even though Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, it was closely monitoring the situation.
‘We are talking about serious plans on the American side with regard to Greenland. These plans have long-standing historical roots,’ Putin told an Arctic forum amid Donald Trump’s push to take control of the autonomous Danish island.
‘This may surprise some, only at first glance,’ said the Kremlin dictator, who seeks the Trump’s backing for his own claims on Ukrainian territory. ‘It is a profound mistake to believe that these are some kind of extravagant talks of the new American administration. Nothing of the sort.’
Putin appeared to give his blessing to Trump to make a land grab for Greenland – and even hinted the US President might grab Iceland, too.
He said: ‘In fact, the United States had such plans back in the 1860s. Even then, the American administration was considering the possibility of annexing Greenland and Iceland. But this idea did not receive support from Congress at the time.’
Russia was concerned that ‘NATO countries in general are increasingly designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts’, he said, and Russia was monitoring the situation and preparing an appropriate response.
‘It is obvious that the role and importance of the Arctic both for Russia and for the whole world is growing. But unfortunately, geopolitical competition, the struggle for positions in this region, is also intensifying,’ Putin added.
This comes as JD Vance is set to visit Greenland with his wife Usha on Friday – making him the most senior US official to visit the territory amid a growing war of words following threats from Donald Trump to take the island over.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be threatening an Arctic war as he said on Thursday that he considered US plans to annex Greenland ‘serious’
The US Army’s 1st Brigade, 11th Airborne , operates out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska
Ahead of the visit, the Vice President suggested that the self-governing Danish territory has not received enough defence support from Copenhagen, arguing that global security is at stake.
‘Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world,’ he said in an online video.
In an apparent jibe after a comment he made about Europe ‘free-loading’ off the US for its defence was revealed on Monday, Vance added: ‘Unfortunately, leaders in both America and in Denmark, I think, ignored Greenland for far too long.
‘That’s been bad for Greenland, it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction, so I’m gonna go check it out.’
The Vances will visit the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, instead of Usha Vance’s previously announced solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race.
‘I have to speak diplomatically here, but in many ways it’s a masterful spin to make it look like they’re escalating when really they’re de-escalating,’ Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Danish broadcaster DR earlier on Wednesday.
But Løkke also said it was ‘positive’ that the ‘Americans have canceled their visit among Greenlandic society. ‘They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that.’
President Trump has irked much of Europe with claims that the US will get control of the mineral-rich territory ‘one way or another’, with tensions ratcheting up as leaders from Greenland and Denmark condemned the US approach as ‘aggressive’.
The Vances will no longer attend a dog-sled race in Greenland amid widespread anti-American protests
Putin vowed to boost his military presence in the region. He also wanted to see an expansion of tourism in the Arctic, where he has plans to exploit vast mineral wealth.
Putin, who is keen to ramp up commerce via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through Arctic waters as Russia shifts trade towards Asia and away from Europe because of Western sanctions, said Russia had never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but was prepared to defend its interests.
Foreign partners prepared to cooperate with Russia in the region would be guaranteed a good investment return, he said in a major speech in the northern city of Murmansk.
Putin called for an expansion of Russia’s northern ports and the building of a merchant fleet in the Arctic, supported by new-generation icebreakers including nuclear-powered ones.
But he said Russia’s domestic capabilities were insufficient for this at the moment, and that it would also require buying vessels and interacting with foreign shipbuilders.
The Arctic holds fossil fuels and minerals beneath the land and the seabed that could become more accessible with global warming.
It is also an area of military competition, where defence analysts say Russia has built up its presence much faster than the West by reopening Soviet-era bases and modernising its navy.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.