{"id":211603,"date":"2025-01-09T15:32:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/russia-is-alarmed-by-trumps-greenland-plan-but-it-could-work-in-the-kremlins-favour\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T15:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:32:39","slug":"russia-is-alarmed-by-trumps-greenland-plan-but-it-could-work-in-the-kremlins-favour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/09\/russia-is-alarmed-by-trumps-greenland-plan-but-it-could-work-in-the-kremlins-favour\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia is alarmed by Trump’s Greenland plan – but it could work in the Kremlin’s favour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What does Russia think of Donald Trump’s plan to acquire Greenland? Well, on the face of things, it is alarmed.<\/p>\n

“The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, our strategic interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, sounding protective, when asked about the US president-elect’s recent remarks.<\/p>\n

His language echoes that frequently used by Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a><\/strong>, when discussing NATO’s historical expansion eastward. “Zone of strategic influence” generally means “back off”.<\/p>\n

But Donald Trump has refused to rule out<\/a><\/strong> using military force to seize the world’s largest island, and it appears to have made Moscow nervous.<\/p>\n

“We are watching the rather dramatic development of the situation very closely, but so far, thank God, at the level of statements,” Mr Peskov said.<\/p>\n

Ukraine latest:
Biden unveils boost for Kyiv before leaving office<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n Dmitry Peskov speaking to Sky News last year
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The Kremlin’s concern is no surprise, given the Arctic’s economic and geopolitical significance to Moscow.<\/p>\n

At more than 15,000 miles, Russia<\/a><\/strong> has the longest Arctic coastline and the region’s vast reserves of oil and gas make it crucial to the country’s energy supply.<\/p>\n

Climate change has amplified its importance further, with melting ice making the Northern Sea Route, which hugs Russia’s Arctic coastline, increasingly viable.<\/p>\n

The route offers a seasonal shortcut between Europe to Asia, which is of huge attraction to major trading powers like China, and it’s why Russia has pledged to invest $30bn on the route over the next decade.<\/p>\n

But the opportunities are accompanied by risks.<\/p>\n

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\n \"President-elect\n <\/div>
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\n President-elect Donald Trump’s plans are being watched ‘very closely’ by the Kremlin. Pic: AP
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Russia is the only non-NATO Arctic state, and the melting ice means it increasingly views its Arctic border as a vulnerability. That is why it has reopened more than 50 mothballed Soviet-era military posts there, as well as upgraded radar systems and modernised its Northern Fleet.<\/p>\n

In such an environment, an attempt by the US to acquire more Arctic territory (even if it were from another NATO member) would be seen as a provocation. One Russian lawmaker has raised fears Greenland will become home to US strategic bombers.<\/p>\n

Read more:
Why does Trump want Greenland?<\/a>
Analysis: Trump’s threats could test NATO<\/a>
Echoes of 1812 war with Canada threats<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n \"Donald\n <\/div>
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\n Donald Trump Jr this week visited Greenland. Pic: Reuters
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But that’s the public response from Russia. Could the reaction be different in private? Assuming it doesn’t come to fruition, the Greenland<\/a><\/strong> proposal could actually have its benefits for Moscow.<\/p>\n

For one, it has the potential to cause a rift within NATO. Instead of fighting as one, they could be fighting amongst themselves.<\/p>\n

More importantly, perhaps, it articulates an expansionist policy, the kind which Russia is practising right now in Ukraine<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It could, therefore, help Vladimir Putin attempt to legitimise the invasion of his neighbour, arguing: “If the US wants to claim territory in the name of national security, then why can’t we?”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does Russia think of Donald Trump’s plan to acquire Greenland? Well, on the face of things, it is alarmed. “The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, our strategic interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, sounding protective, when asked about the US president-elect’s recent remarks. His language echoes that frequently used by Russian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/11\/768x432\/skynews-dmitry-peskov-ivor-bennett_6741799.jpg?20241107164117","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[50260,5339,10923,34798,736,202,1734,1396],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211605,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211603\/revisions\/211605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}