Nordic officials have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent assertions that Russian and Chinese vessels are operating in significant numbers around Greenland, a claim he has used to support his renewed push to bring the strategically vital Arctic island under U.S. control, according to Financial Times. Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory with a population of 57,000, remains a focal point of geopolitical interest.
Trump’s Growing Rhetoric
Over the past weeks, Trump has intensified his comments on Greenland, frequently citing foreign naval activity as a national security threat. “Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” he said a week ago. Days later, he added: “If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland.”
Intelligence and Official Rebuttals
According to Financial Times, two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence stated there is no evidence of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines operating near Greenland in recent years. “It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines,” one said.
A second diplomat from another Nordic country agreed: “This idea that the waters around Greenland are crawling with Russian and Chinese ships or submarines is just not true. They are in the Arctic, yes, but on the Russian side.”
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also contradicted the claims, telling NRK: “It is not correct that there is a lot of activity from Russia or China around Greenland. There is [activity] in our neighbourhood. But around Greenland there is very little.” Both Eide and one of the diplomats noted that Russian submarine movements are concentrated near Norway, originating from the Kola Peninsula.
Minimal Chinese Involvement
Danish and Greenlandic authorities report almost no Chinese activity since 2018, when Denmark, under strong U.S. pressure, blocked Chinese participation in airport construction projects. A Greenlandic official noted last year: “There has really been nothing from the Chinese since then.”
Cooperation Yes, Sovereignty No
While open to enhanced U.S. cooperation on Arctic security—particularly protecting the GIUK gap between Greenland, Iceland, and the UK—Danish and Greenlandic leaders have been unequivocal that Greenland is not for sale.
In a joint statement Friday night, leaders of all five parties in Greenland’s parliament declared: “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders.”
