What is Russia’s reaction to Trump’s proposal for Greenland?

As US President Donald Trump says the US should seize Greenland as a matter of national security, Chinese and Russian ships was “everywhere”. Opinions in the Arctic region a Quick rebuke from Beijing.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian accused Washington of “using the ‘China threat’ as an excuse for selfish gain.”

In contrast, Russia has remained silent on Trump’s ambitions to seize Greenland and threats to use military force to seize the Arctic island if necessary.

The Kremlin’s silence on the issue of Greenland is partly explained by the fact that it is a holiday period for Russians, and Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. Russian authorities have yet to comment on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Russian ally, over the weekend.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the “aggressive actions” of the United States in Venezuela. capture the new Russian flag oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. But when it came to Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, he was also silent.

Moscow has much more reason than China to be concerned about the US “occupation” of such a giant Arctic entity as Greenland. had a laser-like focus on the climb (and the competition). Geostrategic interests in the Arctic in recent years.

There is good reason for this: Russia is the largest Arctic state, occupying 53% of the Arctic Ocean’s coastline, and it has long-standing geopolitical, strategic and socio-economic interests in the region.

The Arctic is a strategic driver of jobs, investment and growth for the Russian economy, with oil, gas and mineral extraction industries located there, as well as fisheries, infrastructure and transport logistics, especially linked to the Northern Sea Route – Russia’s main Arctic shipping route between Europe and Asia.

In addition, Russia maintains a maritime nuclear deterrent in the Arctic and has a number of military bases and airfields, as well as a specialized fleet of icebreakers to facilitate trade, shipping and resource extraction in the area.

This may affect Russia’s Arctic interests US annexation of Greenlandnamely, any movement to occupy the island by force. But analysts told CNBC that Moscow is more interested in seeing its ultimate goal — the destruction of NATO — accomplished.

“Russia’s stake in Greenland is small,” Jamie Shea, former deputy assistant secretary general for security issues at NATO, told CNBC on Wednesday.

“The US would have a greater presence in the North Atlantic (if it increased its presence in Greenland), but NATO is already limiting what Russia can do in the North, with Canada, Denmark, Norway and the UK increasing their military presence and capabilities in the region, while Sweden and Finland have joined NATO. So not much will change strategically for Russia,” added Shea, an international defense and security expert.

The analyst noted that “Putin would be happy to see further divisions and disharmony in NATO and a large-scale transatlantic crisis that would lead to the end of US support for Ukraine and the withdrawal of US troops from Europe.”

If the US were “bound in the Western Hemisphere”, it would give Russia more room to increase its influence in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. So, on balance, it would be a big win for Putin, for which he would pay no price,” he added.

Trump’s new offer on Greenland and threats to use military force if necessary have rattled NATO and its European member states this week.

Both Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly told Trump that the island is not ready to be seized or sold, and that any military action to seize it would spell the end of the NATO alliance.

European leaders also spoke out against Trump, saying that “Denmark and Greenland and Denmark and Greenland are the only ones to decide.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Danish officials next week.

The apparent alarm from European leaders and the increased possibility of NATO proliferation is “an absolute gift to Putin,” Edward Arnold, a senior fellow at RUSI, told CNBC.

“Putin has always known, and so did the Soviet leaders before him, that Russia can’t defeat NATO militarily. It’s too powerful, so it has to defeat NATO politically, basically to hollow out Article Five (and) move the US away from European interests and move it to the point where they can expose it,” he added.

If the annexation of Greenland does become a realistic prospect, “NATO will eat itself politically,” Arnold added.