By AFP
January 20, 2026
President Donald Trump says owning Greenland is critical for US national security - Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
As President Donald Trump intensifies his push to secure control of Greenland for the United States, Russia is revelling in the chaos while keeping its own position on US ownership over the island unclear.
European countries have warned any US attempt to seize Greenland would rupture NATO, a transatlantic alliance that Russia has long seen as a security threat.
But Moscow has also expressed concern about the West expanding its military foothold in the Arctic, an area where it has its own ambitions and which it sees as strategically important.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly about the dispute this year, while his spokesperson and foreign minister have called the situation “unusual” and denied Moscow has any intentions to seize the Arctic territory itself.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Trump would “go down in history” if he took control of the island, while declining to comment on whether this was “good or bad”.
Trump says US ownership of Greenland is critical for his country’s national security.
He and his aides have argued Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would be unable to defend Greenland should Russia or China ever seek to invade the vast island, a Danish autonomous territory.
Greenland sits under the flight path between the United States and Russia, making it a potentially critical outpost for air defences.
Without commenting on Trump’s claim, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on Tuesday: “Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark, it is a colonial conquest.”
He pointed to France’s control of Mayotte and Britain’s ownership of the Falkland Islands — which Lavrov referred to as the “Malvinas Islands”, as Argentina calls them — as examples of European powers retaining control of conquered territory.
– ‘Close eye on situation’ –
Peskov said last week Russia was “like the rest of the world, keeping a close eye on the situation.”
“We proceed from the premise that Greenland is a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added in remarks last Friday.
“The situation is unusual, I would even say extraordinary, from the point of view of international law,” Peskov said, adding that Trump “as he has said himself, is not somebody for whom international law is some kind of priority”.
Pro-Kremlin media outlets have meanwhile revelled in the dispute.
The Moskovskiy Komsomolets tabloid said on Sunday it was watching with joy at Europe falling into “complete disarray” over the crisis.
Although Moscow has not said whether it would oppose the United States taking control of the territory, it has repeatedly warned NATO against deploying troops and equipment to the Arctic region.
Last week, the Russian Embassy in Belgium — where NATO is headquartered — accused the alliance of embarking on an “accelerated militarisation of the North”.
Putin has not commented publicly on the issue since it reemerged as a focus for the Trump administration in recent weeks.
The Kremlin chief had in March 2025 said Trump had “serious plans regarding Greenland” that had “long-standing historical roots”, after the US President mooted the need for American control of the territory.
At the time, Putin said the issue “concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us”, but that Russia was “concerned” about what he called increasing NATO activity in the Arctic.
Hungary rejects joint EU stance on Greenland, foreign minister says
Hungary does not consider the issue of Greenland to be a European Union matter and therefore does not support issuing a joint EU statement on the subject, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on January 18 in Prague.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Czech colleague, Petr Macinka, Szijjarto said Hungary views the matter as a bilateral issue to be resolved through negotiations between the parties concerned. He added that Hungary had already indicated this position at a meeting of EU permanent representatives.
EU ambassadors broadly agreed on January 18 to step up diplomatic efforts to prevent US President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on European partners, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for countermeasures if the duties are introduced.
Trump said on January 17, he would roll out a series of escalating tariffs from February 1 targeting EU member states, including Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, as well as Britain and Norway, unless the United States is allowed to purchase Greenland.
Budapest has not commented on the possible impact of US sanctions, although such a move would be dire for the country’s export-oriented automotive industry.
Analysts said that Hungary’s veteran leader Orban, who has recently been invited to join the Gaza "Board of Peace", is unlikely to go against the US leader, even on critical issues such as Greenland.
Hungary’s veteran leader has also made it clear at the party’s congress earlier this month that Budapest does not want a common foreign policy and that sovereignty in foreign affairs is essential to nationhood.
Hungary was the only EU member state not to support the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy’s statement on US intervention in Venezuela.
For years, Hungary has broken ranks with joint EU policy on Ukraine and Israel, so the decision came as little surprise.
In his speech at the party congress, Orban noted that Hungary’s future is in the EU and in Nato and advised against leaving the bloc, but added that it may not be necessary as the EU is gradually disintegrating and may fall apart.
Petr Macinka said the situation regarding Greenland was complex and could not be resolved by a single statement, adding that dialogue was necessary.
He said talks involving the United States, Greenland and Denmark could help resolve the issue, and warned against the formation of a unified European stance against the United States. Macinka also said the Czech Republic maintains good relations with Washington and would be willing to assist Denmark through mediation if needed
Hungarian and Czech governments share identical positions on critical issues, rejecting war, migration, and gender ideology, Szijjarto said in Prague. He signalled an attempt to rebuild a bloc of like-minded governments within the EU and pledged to revise the V4 group after years of fragmentation.
By AFP
January 20, 2026
An Inuit hunter rides his dogsled on the soft sea ice as he looks for seal outside Ittoqqortoormiit, on the frozen Scoresbysund Fjord, on the east coast of Greenland - Copyright AFP Olivier MORIN
Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
Greenland’s biggest dogsled race is a cultural mainstay on the Arctic island, but US envoys keep finding themselves disinvited, frustrating attempts by President Donald Trump’s team to wield soft power in the Danish autonomous territory.
The annual Avannaata Qimussersua race is dear to Greenlanders as the most prestigious event of its kind, pitting around 30 teams against each other to decide the territory’s top dog sledders.
That has piqued the interest of team Trump as the American president pushes to take over Greenland.
In the space of a few days, Trump’s special envoy for Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, was first invited and then uninvited to this year’s race, to be held on March 28 in Qasigiannguit, a small community on the west coast.
Last year, after Trump revived his ambition to acquire Greenland, Usha Vance, wife of US Vice President JD Vance, had also planned to attend the race, before her appearance was cancelled.
“We’re looking at manoeuvres that, if not outright interference, are at least a form of soft diplomacy that involves meeting local populations with the intent of influencing them,” Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a researcher on Arctic geopolitics, told AFP.
The would-be visits are part of a broader push by Washington to get a feel for the Greenlandic population — which at this point is overwhelmingly opposed to joining the United States — and encourage pro-American sentiment in order to win hearts and minds, according to the researcher.
In August, Danish public broadcaster DR reported that at least three Americans linked to Trump were conducting influence operations in Greenland.
Their mission was to identify those favouring closer ties to the United States, as well as those in fierce opposition, according to DR.
In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence agencies had been ordered to gather information on Greenland’s independence movement and views on potential US exploitation of the island’s natural resources.
– Identity marker –
For many of Greenland’s 57,000 inhabitants, of whom nearly 90 percent are Inuit, the Avannaata Qimussersua is strongly tied to identity.
The race, generally held at the end of the winter season, is part of the island’s “living culture”, said Manumina Lund Jensen, an associate professor in the Department of Cultural and Social History at the University of Greenland.
“It’s very important for the Greenlanders, and it is a very emotional journey if you go there,” she told AFP.
Amid renewed tension between Washington and Europe, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association (KNQK) recently announced that the invitation to Landry — which had been extended without its knowledge by a private tour operator — had been cancelled.
“KNQK has been informed that the tourism company that invited Governor Jeff Landry from the United States has unilaterally withdrawn its invitation,” the organisation said in a statement.
“This is reassuring,” it added.
– ‘Political pressure’ –
Greenlandic broadcaster KNR reported last week that Landry had been invited by tour operator Kristian Jeremiassen.
Speaking to KNR, Jeremiassen said he had invited “many different people” to the race, without specifying whom, “to promote tourism in northern Greenland”.
However, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association said it found it “unacceptable that political pressure is being exerted from outside” and called the invitation “wholly inappropriate”.
According to Blugeon-Mered, alongside his work as a tour operator, Jeremiassen is a politician “on the wane… whose primary goal is to make himself a kind of go-between (with the United States) to boost his business”.
A year ago, Usha Vance had planned to attend the race without an official invitation.
“The US consulate had offered to fund most of the race,” Blugeon-Mered said.
“They thought that by being the race’s main sponsor, they could buy the organisers and do whatever they wanted. It didn’t work.”
JD Vance’s planned visit had sparked strong objections in Denmark, which saw it as “unacceptable pressure” and said it risked provoking demonstrations during the event.
The US delegation ultimately changed its programme, and JD and Usha Vance instead visited an American air base at Pituffik, in the territory’s northwest.
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