Russia watches US-European tensions over Greenland with some glee, gloating and wariness

As tensions simmered between the United States and Europe this week over President Donald Trump's push to acquire Greenland, Russian officials, state-backed media and pro-Kremlin bloggers responded with a mixture of glee, gloating and wariness.

Some touted Trump's move as historic, while others said it weakens the European Union and NATO — something that Moscow would seem to welcome — and that it takes some of the West's attention away from Russia's war in Ukraine.

There was wariness, too, with commentators noting the possible acquisition of the self-governed, mineral-rich island by the U.S. from Denmark held security and economic concerns for Russia, which has sought to assert its influence over wide areas of the Arctic and has moved to boost its military presence in the region, home to its Northern Fleet and a site where the Soviet Union tested nuclear weapons.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Trump insisted he wants to ''get Greenland,'' but said he would not use force to do so while repeatedly deriding European allies and vowing that NATO should not try to block U.S. expansionism.

Making ‘world history'

The Kremlin has neither criticized nor supported Trump on the issue, but pointed out the far-reaching impact if the U.S. took Greenland from Denmark. Such measured praise appears in line with Moscow's public rhetoric toward the current U.S. administration, as Russia tries to win concessions in the Trump-led effort to end its nearly four-year war in Ukraine and revive relations with Washington that had plunged to Cold War lows.

''Regardless of whether it's good or bad and whether it complies with international law or not, there are international experts who believe that if Trump takes control of Greenland he will go down in history, and not only the U.S. history but world history,'' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

President Vladimir Putin said last year that Trump's push for control over Greenland wasn't surprising, given longtime U.S. interest in the territory. Putin noted that the United States first considered plans to win control over Greenland in the 19th century, and then offered to buy it from Denmark after World War II.

''It's obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic,'' Putin said.

The government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Sunday compared it to ''such ‘planetary' events as Abraham Lincoln's abolition of slavery ... or the territorial conquests of the Napoleonic Wars.''

''If Trump secures the annexation of Greenland by July 4, 2026, when America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he will undoubtedly join the ranks of historical figures who affirmed the greatness of the United States,'' the newspaper wrote.

A statement that appeared favorable to Trump came from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said at a news conference Tuesday that Denmark's control over Greenland was a vestige of the colonial past

Lavrov also drew parallels between Trump's bid for Greenland and Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The 2014 illegal seizure of the peninsula is not recognized by most of the world.

''Crimea isn't less important for the security of the Russian Federation than Greenland is for the United States,'' he said.

A blow for longtime allies

Others focused on the potential rift between the U.S. and its European allies in NATO, a bloc that has held firm since the dawn of the Cold War and that Russia has long viewed as an adversary.

''Transatlantic unity is over. Leftist, globalist EU/UK elites failed,'' wrote Kirill Dmitriev, a presidential envoy involved in talks with the U.S. on ending the war in Ukraine, in a post Saturday on X.

In a series of columns this week, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti touted Trump's push for Greenland as ''opening the door to world history before our very eyes'' and mocked European countries for sending small military contingents to Greenland in a show of support for Denmark.

''Europeans can only watch this in impotent rage — they have neither economic nor military leverage against Washington,'' one column said.

Another column said it was ''amusing and didactical'' that the World Economic Forum once ''was at the pinnacle of power and might, a place everyone aspired to, and today they're burying ‘Atlantic solidarity' here.''

Pushing aside the war in Ukraine

Russian state and pro-Kremlin media also argued Greenland was diverting attention from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's effort to negotiate a favorable peace settlement to end Russia's invasion of his country, painting it as a positive for Moscow.

RIA Novosti echoed that Wednesday in a column titled ''Greenland knocked out Zelenskyy,'' that ''this uproar stirred up by Donald Trump has knocked Zelenskyy out cold,'' and that ''Ukraine's importance will never return to its previous levels.''

But Trump said in Davos that he would meet with Zelenskyy on Thursday. "I want to stop it,'' Trump said of the fighting. ''It's a horrible war.''

Seeking Arctic supremacy

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president who is deputy chairman of the Security Council, drew parallels between Trump's bid for Greenland and Putin's seizure of territory in Ukraine – but said the American's actions were ''completely different.''

Greenland ''was never directly connected to the States, even though they tried to acquire it several times,'' Medvedev said, questioning what price Trump ''is willing to pay to achieve this goal'' and whether he is up to the task of ''eliminating NATO''.

The Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid on Sunday called Trump's bid for Greenland a ''turning point,'' arguing that the Arctic ''turns from a zone of cooperation into a zone of confrontation.''

''The Northern Fleet will be under threat. The economic projects will face hurdles. The nuclear deterrence will lose effectiveness. Russia will end up in strategic isolation,'' the article said. ''Greenland is not just Trump's coveted 2 million square kilometer island. It is an icy noose around Russia's throat. And Trump has already begun to tighten it.''