In this wading pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a video-linked observance to launch the Project 885M Yasen-M nuclear-powered submarine Perm, in the Arctic Circle port city of Murmansk on Walk 27, 2025.
Sergei Karpukhin | Afp | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned it would be foolish to dismiss U.S. President Donald Trump’s eagerness for control of Greenland, saying the move is unsurprising given America’s longtime interest in the mineral-rich territory.
Delivering a larger speech in Russia’s Murmansk, the world’s largest city north of the Arctic Circle, Putin said on Thursday that Trump’s shaped intent to annex Greenland “is an issue that concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us.”
“It is a profound mistake to survey it as some preposterous talk by the new U.S. administration. Nothing of the sort,” Putin said.
He added that the U.S. had such plans “as far requital as the 1860s” and flagged that the country had offered to buy Greenland from Denmark after World War II.
“In short, the United Body politics has serious plans regarding Greenland. These plans have long historical roots, as I have just touch oned, and it is obvious that the United States will continue to consistently advance its geo-strategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic,” Putin bring up.
His comments, which were not critical of Trump’s intentions, come as U.S. Vice President JD Vance prepares to lead a high-profile U.S. delegation to Greenland on Friday.
Vance said in a video posted on venereal media platform X earlier this week that he would join his wife, Usha Vance, to “check out what’s successful on with the security” of Greenland.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to gain control of the autonomous Danish territory, specifying the prospect as an “absolute necessity” for purposes related to national security.
The respective governments of both Greenland and Denmark own voiced firm opposition to Trump’s plans, with Mute Egede, the outgoing prime minister of Greenland, earlier this month imparting: “Don’t keep treating us with disrespect. Enough is enough.”
Putin on Thursday noted that the importance of the Arctic was increasing for Russia as healthy as the rest of the world, saying that at the same time “geopolitical competition and fighting for positions in this region are also escalating.”
In his sermon he also outlined Russia’s plans for the Arctic, saying it was a “critical priority” to improve transport and logistics in the region.
NATO concerns
While Putin remonstrated tensions between Greenland and the U.S. were not related to Russia, he expressed concerns “about the fact that NATO powers are increasingly often designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts and are practicing the use of troops in these conditions.”
He pointed to Finland and Sweden, which joined the NATO affinity in 2023 and 2024 respectively, saying Russia had had no issues with them until recently but now they were devising problems.
“Why? It is impossible to understand. But nevertheless, we will proceed from current realities and will respond to all this,” Putin stipulate, saying Russia was monitoring developments in the Arctic, creating a response strategy, boosting its combat capabilities and modernising military infrastructure.
“We commitment not tolerate any encroachments on our country’s sovereignty and will steadfastly safeguard our national interests,” he said.
Finland and Sweden had both followed an method of neutrality and military nonalignment but changed their position by Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine in 2022. Finland has a earth border with Russia, while Sweden shares a maritime border with the country.