The Kremlin is closely following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's claim to Greenland, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, expressing relief that it was currently only rhetoric.
Trump refused to rule out military action to take control of the Arctic island at a press conference Tuesday. Earlier, he vowed to slap high tariffs on Denmark if it refused to cede its autonomous territory.
“We are very closely monitoring this rather dramatic development of the situation, which is, thank God, at the level of statements so far,” Peskov said.
“We are interested in preserving peace and stability in this zone and are ready to cooperate with any parties for this peace and stability,” he added.
He also suggested the people of Greenland be consulted about what they wanted, pointing to Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions in 2022, which he said were based on referendums.
“We should show the same respect for the opinion of these people,” Peskov said.
Kyiv, along with many Western Countries, denounced Russia's annexations of the four Ukrainian regions as illegal, and the referendums as a sham.
Greenland is a mineral-rich autonomous territory of EU member Denmark and an associated territory of the 27-member bloc.
Trump separately on Tuesday suggested using military force to secure control of the Panama Canal, which the United States handed back to Panama under late President Jimmy Carter, and leveraging economic force against neighboring Canada.
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