Russia claims there will be “serious consequences” from NATO militarising Greenland, as it asserts both its own innocence in the matter and legitimate interest in the whole Arctic region.
Russia and China do not pose any threat to Greenland, and any interest shown in the region by Russia is a legitimate expression of it being the “largest Arctic power”, Moscow said on Thursday as it claimed Moscow and Beijing were being used as pretexts by NATO to militarise the high north. Russia considers the Arctic part of its sphere of influence and previously warned the U.S. it considers it part of its “strategic interests”.
Speaking from the Kremlin, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova accused American and European NATO powers of invoking Russian expansionism as a cover to their own intentions and lashed out at hypocrisy. Noting Russia is “closely monitoring the situation around Greenland”, Zakharova appeared to be attempting to tease NATO, noting Denmark’s subordinate position to the “senior ally” America, and calling on the two to settle their differences through “international law”.
She said: “The current tensions surrounding Danish autonomy acutely demonstrate the failure of the so-called ‘rules-based world order’ built by the West… before blaming others for the disagreements that arise between them, NATO members and European bureaucrats should first and foremost more clearly recognise their own responsibility for the deep and rapid erosion of the international legal foundations of the global security architecture.”
The presence of NATO in the Arctic is destabilising the region, she claimed, and warned militarising the Arctic without paying respect to Russian interests in the region would have “serious consequences”.
This Russian government line was also underlined, Kremlin media stated on Friday, by the Russian ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin, who said the same. Greenland being of interest to Russia or China is a “fantasy” used to justify militarisation, he said.
Russia’s protests come, of course, with a dash of irony. Quite apart from Russia’s proven track record on sidestepping the niceties of international law when it comes to coveted foreign territory, it has also long worked with China to exploit its access to the Arctic region for civil and military purposes.
Breitbart News has reported on the ‘Polar Silk Road‘ initiative, with oil shipped through the region. In 2024, Chinese and Russian nuclear-capable bombers flew together in the Arctic, triggering a fighter scramble by Canada and the United States.
