Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened the US against making any ‘encroachments’ on the Arctic as President Donald Trump continues to pursue Greenland.
Putin raised Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland and said Russia will not stand idly and allow NATO to make advances in the Arctic.
‘We will not allow encroachments on the sovereignty of our country and will reliably protect our national interests,’ Putin said at the Arctic Forum in Russia on Thursday.
Putin said that Trump’s plan to annex Greenland is by no means new or unique to his administration.
‘It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current US administration,’ Putin said.
‘It’s obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.’
Trump has expressed time and time again his plans to acquire Greenland, and even refused to rule out using military force. He has argued that the world’s largest island is at a key geographic location for the US and that it holds a large source of natural resources that have been untapped.
Putin mentioned that Finland and Sweden are part of NATO and made it known that possible conflict in the Arctic region is on his radar.
‘Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but we will closely follow the developments and mount an appropriate response by increasing our military capability and modernizing military infrastructure,’ he said.
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Putin vowed to boost his country’s military presence in the Arctic region. At the same time, he urged joint projects with the West.
‘The stronger our positions will be, the more significant the results will be and the broader opportunities we will have to launch international projects in the Arctic involving the countries that are friendly to us, and, possibly, Western countries if they show interest in joint work,’ he said.
Putin spoke on the issue a day before Vice President JD Vance and his wife were scheduled to visit a US military base in Greenland.
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