What is Russia’s reaction to Trump’s Greenland bid?

When U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States must take control of Greenland for national security reasons, he said Chinese and Russian ships were “everywhere” in the Arctic region, the comments sparked rapid reprimand from Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded Monday, accusing Washington of “using the so-called ‘China threat’ as a pretext to seek selfish gains.”

Russia, by contrast, has remained notably silent on Trump’s ambitions to take control of Greenland and his threat to use military force to seize the Arctic island if necessary.

The silence emanating from the Kremlin on the Greenland issue could partly be explained by the fact that it is a holiday period for Russians, with Orthodox Christians celebrating Christmas on January 7. Russian leaders have yet to comment on the capture of Russian ally Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s leader, last weekend.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the United States’ “aggressive actions” in Venezuela, and on the seizure of a new ship flying the Russian flag tanker in the Atlantic on Wednesday. But it also remains silent regarding Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to Denmark.

Moscow arguably has far more reason than China to speak out on any potential US “takeover” of a giant Arctic entity like Greenland, as Russia has done. had focused like a laser on the climb (and the rival) geostrategic interests in the Arctic over the last few years.

And for good reason: Russia is by far the largest Arctic nation, covering 53% of the Arctic Ocean coastline, and it has long-standing geopolitical, strategic, and socio-economic interests in the region.

The Arctic is a strategic engine of jobs, investment and growth for the Russian economy with oil, gas and mineral extraction industries based there, as well as fisheries, infrastructure and transport logistics, particularly linked to the Northern Sea Route – a major Arctic sea route for Russia between Europe and Asia.

In addition, Russia maintains its maritime nuclear deterrent in the Arctic and has a number of military bases and airfields there, as well as a specialized fleet of icebreakers to facilitate trade, transportation and resource extraction in the territory.

Russia’s interests in the Arctic may well be affected by US fixation on Greenlandand in particular any attempt to take control of the island by force. But analysts told CNBC that Moscow was more interested in achieving its ultimate goal – the destruction of NATO.

“The Russian stake in Greenland is minimal,” Jamie Shea, former deputy secretary general for emerging security challenges at NATO, told CNBC on Wednesday.

“The United States would have a greater presence in the North Atlantic [if it increased its presence in Greenland] but NATO is already limiting what Russia can do in the High North, with Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom all increasing their military presence and capabilities in the region, and Sweden and Finland joining NATO. So not much would change for Russia strategically,” added Shea, an international defense and security expert at the Chatham House think tank.

Putin would be “delighted to see more divisions and inconsistencies within NATO and a massive transatlantic crisis that could lead the United States to cease its support for Ukraine and withdraw its American troops from Europe,” the analyst noted.

If the United States were “stuck in the Western Hemisphere,” it would ultimately give Russia more space to increase its influence in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. So overall, [it would be] a massive victory for Putin for which he pays no price,” he added.