Greenland is Danish territory, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said in a Kremlin statement released on Friday, as the dispute over the Arctic island keeps reverberating in diplomacy and security debates.
What Putin said and how the Kremlin framed it
In a written statement issued by the Kremlin, Putin said Russia considers Greenland to be Danish territory and described the current security situation around the island as “extraordinary” when viewed through the lens of international law.
The message was notable for two reasons: it aligned Moscow – at least on this point – with Copenhagen‘s legal position, and it came as the international debate over Greenland has increasingly revolved around questions of sovereignty, alliances, and security guarantees.
A message aimed at the sovereignty question
Putin’s statement was widely read as a response to recent remarks from USA President Donald Trump about Greenland’s future status. It did not shift Russia’s broader posture in the Arctic, but it did place emphasis on the legal status quo: Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
For Denmark’s government, the point is not academic. The Danish Foreign Minister (Udenrigsministeren), Lars Lokke Rasmussen, has repeatedly described any discussion of transferring sovereignty as a red line, even as Copenhagen keeps open diplomatic channels to manage the dispute.
NATO’s Arctic posture and Moscow’s “extremely dangerous” warning
In parallel, Russian officials have used the Greenland dispute to criticise NATO’s growing focus on the Arctic.
On Thursday, the Kremlin rejected claims that Russia and China constitute an imminent threat to Greenland, and Putin described NATO’s build-up in the region as “extremely dangerous”. Moscow has framed the alliance’s actions as destabilising, arguing that they risk turning Arctic security into a new front of confrontation.
The double-standards argument Russia is pushing
Alongside the legal point about sovereignty, the Kremlin has argued that the Greenland dispute exposes what it calls Western double standards on territorial integrity and international law.
That line has been amplified by other Russian statements in recent days, including criticism of NATO narratives that present Moscow (and Beijing) as the main source of Arctic insecurity. Russia has portrayed those claims as politically motivated and designed to justify a larger allied presence in the region.
The framing also highlights a contradiction in Moscow’s own use of international law. By emphasising Denmark’s territorial integrity in Greenland, the Kremlin positions itself as a defender of sovereignty – even as Russia has repeatedly been accused of breaching those same principles in its actions abroad, from the 2008 war with Georgia and the recognition of breakaway regions, to the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022.
