Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected claims by the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump said that Moscow poses a security threat to Greenland.
“We have nothing to do with that issue,” Lavrov told journalists in Moscow.
He added that there is no doubt that officials in Washington understand that Russia is not planning anything of the sort, but that Moscow is nevertheless monitoring developments related to Trump’s attempt to take control of Greenland.
“This is undoubtedly a serious geopolitical situation,” Lavrov said.
Four-fifths of Greenland’s surface area, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and has fewer than 57.000 inhabitants, is covered by ice.
Trump justified taking over Greenland as part of a growing strategic struggle in the Arctic involving powers such as Russia and China, as well as a way to secure access to key minerals.
Lavrov drew a parallel between Trump’s ambitions for Greenland and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, stating that the Black Sea peninsula in Ukraine is no less important for Russia’s security than Greenland is for the U.S.
He said that Trump is pursuing a policy based on his own moral standards, rather than on international law.
Lavrov also questioned Denmark’s historical ties with Greenland, describing the island as a “colonial possession and an unnatural part of Denmark.”
The Russian foreign minister added that Moscow seeks cooperation with neighboring states in the Arctic, a resource-rich region that global powers are striving to develop.
