A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's demand for U.S. control of the Danish territory of Greenland continues to antagonize American allies, which really has been a gift to U.S. geopolitical foes, perhaps maybe no more so than Russia. Joining us with the view from there is NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. So considering Trump has mentioned national security concerns surrounding Russia as a reason for his interest in Greenland, Charles, how have they been reacting to this there?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Well, A, you know, some of the loudest voices - and by that, I mean nationalists and propagandists - you know, they've had a field day with this, really taunting Europe over how it was always so worried about threats from Moscow when, in fact, the real threat was from Washington. That said, the Kremlin's been more subdued. Here's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on a phone call with reporters earlier this week.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DMITRY PESKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So here, Peskov says it's not really up to him to judge whether Trump's attempt to seize Greenland is good, bad or even legal. But Peskov added that he couldn't help but agree with experts who felt that in doing so, Trump would surely go down in history.
MARTÍNEZ: Well, OK, so doesn't that kind of sound like they're egging Trump on?
MAYNES: (Laughter) It sure does. And you can understand why.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MAYNES: You know, Russia has long seen NATO as its primary national security threat, so much so that among its reasons the Kremlin uses to justify the invasion of Ukraine is, of course, Ukraine's desire to join the alliance. And yet now what we have are NATO members fighting among themselves, even voicing concerns it could be the end of NATO itself, all for reasons not of Russia's making. Meanwhile, Trump's demand for Greenland has exposed this, you know, if-you-can, why-can't-we dynamic that undermines Western criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine. That was certainly on display yesterday at a press conference I attended in Moscow where Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov drew parallels between the U.S. and Russia's need to annex territory. Here's Lavrov in translation.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SERGEY LAVROV: (Through interpreter) As President Trump has said, this territory is important for the security of the United States. Well, Crimea is no less important for the security of the Russian Federation than Greenland is for the U.S.
MAYNES: Now, Lavrov, of course, is referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that was denounced by most of the international community, including the U.S., as illegal. I should add Lavrov also denied Trump's claims that Russia - or, for that matter, China - poses a threat to Greenland, part of Trump's justification for wanting the territory. But Lavrov's larger message was, if the transatlantic alliance wants to tear itself apart, have at it. You know, we won't stand in your way.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. You know, Charles, it's funny. I'm struck by the fact that just two weeks ago, we were talking about Russian foreign policy setbacks with the U.S. attack on Venezuela, threats against Iran, both Kremlin allies.
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, and the takeaway was Russia was an unreliable partner. It couldn't protect its friends. The headlines over Trump and Greenland take some of the sting out of that. But for all the current Russian gloating, there are fears in Moscow that however this Greenland crisis ends, a long-term U.S. military presence in the Arctic is coming, perhaps including Trump's proposal for a nuclear Golden Dome umbrella that Russia has been concerned about, says Hanna Notte, Eurasian program director at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
HANNA NOTTE: It's just that the political utility of these threats currently, I think, outweighs these longer-term strategic concerns.
MAYNES: Now, A, Notte cautions that what this ultimately means for Russian power or Ukraine or NATO's future isn't yet clear. It really depends on President Trump and how he handles the days and weeks ahead.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thanks a lot.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
