The battle for the Arctic resumes between Moscow and Washington. The Kremlin assured, this Thursday, January 9, that it was following “very closely” the “dramatic” rhetoric of American President-elect Donald Trump, who spoke of an annexation of Greenland.
“The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, we are present there and will continue to be. We want to maintain peace and stability in this region and are ready to interact with all parties for this,” he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press. “We are following very closely the rather dramatic development of the situation which, thank God, remains so far at the level of declarations,” he continued.
Greenland is a Danish territory located in the Arctic where Russia is a major player. Rivalries in the region are increasing due to its strategic importance and supposed mineral resources. The United States already has a military base in Greenland.
The dubious parallel with Ukraine
During a press conference on Tuesday, Donald Trump refused to rule out the use of force to annex this autonomous territory of Denmark. He had previously declared that control of Greenland was “an absolute necessity” for “national security and freedom throughout the world”. These declarations sparked an outcry from European capitals calling for respect for Denmark’s sovereignty over this territory, while the United Kingdom for its part refused to “condemn” the comments of its “closest ally”.
In reaction to the Europeans’ comments, Dmitri Peskov tried to draw a parallel – dubious – with the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 following mock referendums not recognized abroad, including by the overwhelming majority allies of Russia. “If we talk about the need to take into account people’s opinions, perhaps we should still remember that of the inhabitants of the four new regions of the Russian Federation. And show the same respect for ‘opinion of the population’ of Greenland, said Dmitri Peskov.