US President-elect Donald Trump has been promoting the idea of incorporating Canada and Greenland into the US for the past few weeks. He attributes this to the need to 'protect' the Arctic from 'threats' posed by Russia and China. However, Russia's reaction to Donald Trump's comments on Greenland was neutral, with few experts and officials sharing their opinions on the matter.
"The basic idea is that the people of Greenland will decide everything. This, in my opinion, is a very important statement. Next, Greenland's own Prime Minister, Mute Egede, emphasises that he is in favour of his country's independence. Trump held a press conference the other day, where one of his key statements concerned the foreign policy concept. This clause does not exclude armed political pressure if someone dares to interfere with the Greenlanders' desire to be independent," commented Ivan Grachev, Chief Researcher at the Central Economic and Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Hence, the most probable scenario is that, after some time, the state will declare its independence.
The expert states that American plans are driven by rather practical reasons: "In Greenland, China is also actively investing in icebreakers, industry, rare earth metals, and geological exploration. Estimates of accumulated investments vary, with one publication calling it $260 billion by 2025. The most modest figure is $3.5 billion. But this is also quite substantial, given that Greenland is a country with a vast territory but a very small population."
The Vice-President of the Association of Polar Explorers, Anton Vasiliev, stated that US interests in Greenland are dictated by the 'Russian and Chinese threat'.
The leaders of Denmark and Greenland have already stated that Greenland is not for sale. Unfortunately, the statement from the future American president reflects the mindset of a zero-sum game, especially under the pretext of the fictitious threat of Russia and China.
The Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, devised the view that, based on recent events, 'the future American administration is not interested in strengthening military and political stability in the Arctic on the basis of developing an equal dialogue and interaction with other Arctic states, even with NATO allies.'
Such an approach, the diplomat noted, is fraught with further degradation of the situation in the region and will undoubtedly 'be taken into account by Russia in its military planning.'
The position of the Press Secretary of the State was rather broad: "The Arctic zone is a zone of our national interests and our strategic interests. We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be present there."
The Kremlin spokesman stated that the country is committed to co-operation and 'to preserving an atmosphere of peace and stability in the Arctic zone.'
The Arctic Century also featured the reaction of Greenlandic parties—Greenlandic Parties Reject Outright Trump’s Purchase Proposal.
Sources: TASS, Business-Gazeta, ASPOLRF
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Greenlandic Parties Reject Outright Trump's Purchase Proposal