Politico: Greenland gambit is about U.S. eyeing Russia as a rival in the Arctic
Photo: Politico
Greenland is just the tip of the iceberg, News.az reports.
A senior aide to Trump confirmed that the Greenland gambit is about broader geopolitical dynamics, as the U.S. eyes an increasingly belligerent Russia as a rival for Arctic supremacy.
"This is not just about Greenland. This is about the Arctic. You have Russia that is trying to become king ... It's oil and gas. It's our national security. It's critical minerals,” said Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick to be national security adviser, on Fox News on Wednesday.
Other Arctic countries are watching warily, such as Norway with its Svalbard islands in the freezing far north, which could attract the imperialist eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday dismissed any concerns about the archipelago’s potential vulnerability. “Svalbard is Norway, and Svalbard is safe,” Støre said on Norwegian broadcasting service NRK.
But Svalbard — home to more polar bears than inhabitants — lies along a sea route that Russia’s Northern Fleet must pass to reach the Atlantic Ocean, rendering it strategically important for Moscow even though it already owns more Arctic territory than any other country.
Several settlements on Svalbard, where around 2,500 people live, are populated by Russians, dating back to the Soviet era, who mostly live in the second-largest town of Barentsburg. The island is also home to Pyramiden, an abandoned coal-mining town where a Lenin statue overlooks the central square.
The Svalbard Treaty, signed in 1920, grants Norway sovereignty over the archipelago but allows all other signatories to exploit its natural resources, which currently includes 48 parties, including the U.S., Russia and Japan. Only Russia and Norway, however, make use of this right today. Svalbard is also a demilitarized and visa-free zone thanks to the treaty, while mainly attracting researchers and tourists. Most of the inhabitants work in the mining industry.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that Moscow is watching the Greenland developments with interest.
“The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, our strategic interests," Peskov said during a briefing. "We are interested in preserving the atmosphere of peace and stability in the Arctic zone."
The biggest danger with Trump’s fixation on taking over Greenland is the potential inspiration it could give to rival powers to start acting in the same imperialist vein, Arctic watchers have warned.
Andreas Østhagen, a researcher at Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Oslo, told POLITICO that statements like Trump’s could provoke other actors, Russia or China in particular, to see “the use of military force against another country to pursue their national interests as a legitimate means of operations in international affairs.”
A senior aide to Trump confirmed that the Greenland gambit is about broader geopolitical dynamics, as the U.S. eyes an increasingly belligerent Russia as a rival for Arctic supremacy.
"This is not just about Greenland. This is about the Arctic. You have Russia that is trying to become king ... It's oil and gas. It's our national security. It's critical minerals,” said Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick to be national security adviser, on Fox News on Wednesday.
Other Arctic countries are watching warily, such as Norway with its Svalbard islands in the freezing far north, which could attract the imperialist eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Thursday dismissed any concerns about the archipelago’s potential vulnerability. “Svalbard is Norway, and Svalbard is safe,” Støre said on Norwegian broadcasting service NRK.
But Svalbard — home to more polar bears than inhabitants — lies along a sea route that Russia’s Northern Fleet must pass to reach the Atlantic Ocean, rendering it strategically important for Moscow even though it already owns more Arctic territory than any other country.
Several settlements on Svalbard, where around 2,500 people live, are populated by Russians, dating back to the Soviet era, who mostly live in the second-largest town of Barentsburg. The island is also home to Pyramiden, an abandoned coal-mining town where a Lenin statue overlooks the central square.
The Svalbard Treaty, signed in 1920, grants Norway sovereignty over the archipelago but allows all other signatories to exploit its natural resources, which currently includes 48 parties, including the U.S., Russia and Japan. Only Russia and Norway, however, make use of this right today. Svalbard is also a demilitarized and visa-free zone thanks to the treaty, while mainly attracting researchers and tourists. Most of the inhabitants work in the mining industry.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that Moscow is watching the Greenland developments with interest.
“The Arctic is a zone of our national interests, our strategic interests," Peskov said during a briefing. "We are interested in preserving the atmosphere of peace and stability in the Arctic zone."
The biggest danger with Trump’s fixation on taking over Greenland is the potential inspiration it could give to rival powers to start acting in the same imperialist vein, Arctic watchers have warned.
Andreas Østhagen, a researcher at Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Oslo, told POLITICO that statements like Trump’s could provoke other actors, Russia or China in particular, to see “the use of military force against another country to pursue their national interests as a legitimate means of operations in international affairs.”
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