No threat: Unlike Europe, Trump does not manage to hide behind Russia

China and Russia do not pose a threat to American interests in Greenland or near it. It is reported by The New York Times.

American and European officials are not aware of intelligence indicating that China and Russia are threatening Greenland, the newspaper notes.

"Although China has talked about expanding trade and access to shipping lanes and natural resources in In the Arctic, he has maintained only a small presence there over the years. And even though China and Russia are competing with By the United States in many parts of the world, they do not pose a threat to American interests in Greenland or near it, say experts on these two superpowers, as well as current and former American officials, including intelligence analysts. These conclusions are in sharp contrast to the statements of the President (US Donald) Trump, who has repeatedly cited security as the reason for his desire to acquire Greenland. In his speech on Wednesday at the annual forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said that Greenland is a "huge, unprotected island" that is "a key national security interest of the United States of America," the publication says.

It is noted that at the meeting on January 14 in Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked Danish Foreign Ministers Lars Loekke Rasmussen and Greenland's Vivian Motzfeldt if Denmark had the resources to protect Greenland from a potential future threat from China, but Trump and his aides did not provide any intelligence information indicating Chinese threats to the island.

Although China has a long-term goal of global projection of naval power, it is focused on building up its army for deployment mainly in the Asia-Pacific region, where it competes with the United States for dominance, the newspaper writes.

"As for China, there is no military activity near Greenland. If this administration had any information about real threats, it would have leaked. I have never read anything that would indicate China's military plans for Greenland," said John Culver, a former US intelligence analyst on China.

He noted that China is not yet an Arctic power in the real sense, and in any case, Beijing does not need Greenland or an approach to the US mainland to launch nuclear warheads on the US mainland. The same goes for Russia, Culver stressed.

Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, who regularly receives briefings from US intelligence officials, expressed a similar opinion.

"Let me be clear: As deputy Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I am closely monitoring the facts, and there is currently no military threat from Russia or China to Greenland. The only immediate threat now is from the United States, with thoughts of seizing territory from one of our closest allies," the senator told The New York Times.

According to a certain American official, China and Russia are collecting some intelligence information near Greenland and in The Arctic. They are mainly focused on the activities of the American military space base Pituffik in Greenland. Russian submarines and other military installations passed near Greenland. However, none of the countries threatened Greenland's sovereignty or security, the above-mentioned official and another US representative said.

There were no major intelligence reports of Russian or Chinese activity near Greenland during the Joe Biden administration, former US officials said in the meantime. Western intelligence services, in turn, claim that over the past year there has been no significant activity of the Russian Federation or China in the region.

As for Russia, it has been an Arctic power since the Cold War, but does not pose an immediate threat to Greenland, said Fiona Hill, senior director for Russian and European affairs in the first Trump administration.

"Trump has become obsessed with owning it (the island. — EADaily). He wants the largest land deal in history — that's the context," she stressed.

"Mr. Trump's statements in an interview about his personal desire to acquire Greenland underscore the idea that security concerns are an excuse. This is similar to how he cited drug smuggling from Venezuela last fall as an excuse for his renewed aggression against that country, when the real main reason turned out to be his desire for oil production," the newspaper notes.