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Russia has said the Arctic should remain a "military free zone" but warned it could attack.
12:17, Wed, Feb 11, 2026 Updated: 12:18, Wed, Feb 11, 2026
Trump and Putin (Image: Getty)
Putin’s war-hungry Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that Russia will take military action if Greenland is transformed by the US into a strategic base against Moscow.
Speaking during a government session in the State Duma, the 75-year-old diplomat said any deployment of military capabilities targeting Russia would trigger “appropriate countermeasures, including military-technical ones.”
Lavrov claimed that the future of the Arctic island was a matter for the United States and Denmark — but made clear the Kremlin would not tolerate Western military expansion in the region.
“The United States, Denmark, and Greenland must sort this out for themselves,” he said.
Greenland is a territory of the Danish crown.
“Taking into account the opinions of the residents of the largest island, of course, who have been treated quite harshly by official Copenhagen for many years and decades… as second-class citizens,” said the Kremlin’s hardline chief diplomat.
“There is ample evidence to support this point.”
“Naturally, if Greenland were to become militarised and military capabilities aimed at Russia were created there, we would take appropriate countermeasures, including military-technical ones.”
“Our principled position, however, is that the Arctic must remain a zone of peace and cooperation.”
He accused the European Union of adopting a “servile stance toward Washington” amid what he described as “Russophobic hysteria,” and lashed out at what he called Western “double standards.”
According to Lavrov, Western powers support Greenland’s right to self-determination while rejecting Russia’s claims over occupied Crimea, Donbas and other Ukrainian territories the Kremlin refers to as “Novorossiya.”
The veteran foreign minister insisted Moscow would “defend truth and law” in the annexed regions and continue political and diplomatic efforts to achieve the goals of the war against Ukraine, which will reach its four-year mark on February 24.
Lavrov also underlined Russia’s continued pivot eastward, describing China as a “great eastern neighbour” and confirming preparations for a visit by Vladimir Putin to Beijing later this year.
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He urged Russian MPs to consider holidaying at North Korea’s new Wonsan resort, saying tourists from Putin’s state would be given priority.
“Magnificent sea, excellent conditions,” he said, adding that Pyongyang was becoming “cleaner and more beautiful.”
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