Russia Does Not Engage in Such International Shopping: Kremlin

The desire of U.S. President Donald Trump to buy Greenland from Denmark does not concern the Kremlin, which stated that Russia does not engage in such international shopping and would not like to interfere in the relations between Washington and Copenhagen, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia, as reported by RIA Novosti.

“This is not our business; we do not engage in such international shopping. This issue is more related to the relations between the USA and Denmark. If we understand correctly, there appears to be a certain 'black cat' has crossed there. But again, I repeat, this is not our issue. We would not want to interfere,” Peskov said in response to a question about how the Kremlin assesses Trump's proposal to buy Greenland, Denmark's rejection, and the subsequent refusal of the U.S. leader to visit the country.

Regarding the follow-up question about whether the Kremlin views Trump’s proposal as a potential manifestation of exacerbating competition for Arctic resources, the press secretary of the President of Russia did not comment but noted that Russia continues its work to protect its rights in the Arctic shelf. “I will not comment on that; I will only say that Russia is doing its work with the relevant UN agencies regarding the protection of its rights on the shelf... There are certain successes, this work continues, it is absolutely legal and complies with international law,” Peskov stated.

Previously, a series of media reports had emerged about Trump discussing the possibility of buying Greenland, which has extensive autonomous rights as part of Denmark. Later, Trump himself confirmed in conversations with reporters that he was interested in this issue “in a strategic sense.” Greenland officials declared that the island is not for sale, while in Denmark, hopes were expressed that Trump was joking, calling the very idea of a sale “absurd.” After that, Trump canceled his visit to Copenhagen.