The tensions around the island should not be dismissed as the “extravagant talk” of the US administration, according to Russia’s president

Washington has long harbored plans to get its hands on Greenland, and the ongoing tensions around the world’s largest island should be taken seriously, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned.

Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday, Putin touched upon the ongoing tensions around Greenland, a Danish semi-autonomous territory, and US President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to annex it.

Trump invoked the topic of Greenland once again on Wednesday, claiming that US ownership of the island is needed to “properly defend a large section of this Earth” and would be universally beneficial – including for Denmark.

“We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth – not just the US – without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it,” he said.

Trump’s statements should be taken seriously, Putin warned, pointing out that the US has been harboring plans to annex Greenland for over a century and a half already.

“Everyone knows about the US plans to annex Greenland. You know, this may surprise someone only at first glance. And it is a deep mistake to believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration,” Putin warned.

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American plans to seize Greenland date back to 1860, but at the time they did not get Congressional support, the Russian president pointed out.

“Let me remind you that by 1868, the Alaska purchase was being ridiculed in American newspapers. It was called madness, an ‘ice box,’ and ‘the polar bear garden’ of Andrew Johnson, then-US president. And his Greenland proposals failed,” Putin said.

The US, Germany, and Denmark also came close to signing a land-swap deal in 1910, which would have resulted in Greenland being ceded to America, Putin noted. However, the agreement ultimately fell through. 

From the early 19th century until the 1950s, Greenland was under the full control of Denmark. During World War Two, it was occupied by the US after the Scandinavian country itself was captured by Nazi Germany. Currently, the island hosts an American military base and the infrastructure for an early warning system for ballistic missiles. 

In recent decades, the island has grown increasingly autonomous; it was granted home rule in 1979, ultimately receiving the right in 2009 to declare independence if a referendum passes.