Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indirectly defended American President Donald Trump’s plans to annex Greenland, saying that it is not a “natural part” of Denmark.
Trump has cited national security concerns in seeking to annex the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory, and has cited Russia and China as his biggest concerns in the region.
According to information from Reuters, at a press conference in Moscow this Tuesday (20), Lavrov said that Russia does not seek to interfere in Greenland’s affairs and that the Trump administration knows that the Kremlin has no plans to take control of the island.
However, it indirectly validated Trump’s claims, who has been pushing for Ukraine to agree to cede parts of its territory to Russia so that the war between the two countries can be brought to an end.
“In principle, Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark, right?” said Lavrov.
“It was not a natural part of Norway or Denmark. It is a colonial conquest. The fact that the inhabitants are now used to it and feel comfortable is another matter,” the chancellor added.
Recently, Trump presented a similar argument to justify the annexation of Greenland. “Why do they [dinamarqueses] Do they have a ‘property right’ after all? There are no written documents, only one boat docked there hundreds of years ago, but we also had boats docking there,” said the American president.
Over the weekend, Trump announced tariffs against eight allied countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, that oppose the American annexation of Greenland.
Starting February 1, Washington will levy a 10% tariff on all exports from these countries to the United States, a rate that will be raised to 25% on June 1, “until an agreement is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland” by the Americans, Trump wrote.
The announcement sparked outrage among the affected countries, who are considering triggering the so-called “trade bazooka”, a series of retaliations that could include the partial blocking of United States access to European markets and export controls.
