What's New
Russian media personalities have responded to President-elect Donald Trump's proposal regarding buying Greenland in a state broadcast show. In his show Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on Russia-1, host Vladimir Solovyov and others responded to Trump's idea to potentially buy Greenland and voiced their support.
Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for comment via email.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump transition team for comment via email outside of business hours.
Why It Matters
Putin allies' support of Trump's proposal to buy Greenland is significant because it could have ramifications on Moscow's pursuit of territorial gains, as it is currently engaged in a land war with Ukraine.
While the Kremlin has been silent on the issue so far, Russian state TV pundits saw Trump's idea as a signal for an imminent carve-up of the world into "spheres of influence."
What To Know
On his evening show, Solovyov and his guests largely cheered on Trump's proposal to buy Greenland. Sergey Mikheyev, one of Solovyov's pundits said that Trump's proposal is in accordance with "the American mindset" that his predecessors attempted to "disguise and hide".
"Trump simply says it straight—we are everything and you are nothing," Mikheyev noted.
"This is especially interesting because it drives a wedge between him and Europe, it undermines the world architecture, and opens up certain opportunities for our foreign policy," MIkheyev said, adding that if Trump "really wants to stop the third world war, the way out is simple: dividing up the world into spheres of influence."
Stanislav Tkachenko, a top academic at the St. Petersburg State University also voiced his support for Trump's discussion of buying Greenland and said that Russia should "thank Donald Trump, who is teaching us a new diplomatic language."
"That is, to say it like it is. Maybe we won't carve up the world like an apple, but we can certainly outline the parts of the world where our interests cannot be questioned."
Solovyov, a known Russian propagandist and staunch ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, often hosts political pundits and discusses American politics with them. He has previously said that Trump is in "no way" a friend of Russia's.
Trump recently spoke about potentially purchasing Greenland and he wrote on Truth Social that "For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."
Re-introducing the idea from his first presidential term in 2019, Trump quickly faced backlash from Greenland, with Prime Minister Múte Egede insisting that the autonomous territory under Denmark is "not for sale."
The President-elect has also spoken of making Canada the 51st state, and discussed the return of the Panama Canal under US control.
What People Are Saying
Regarding Trump's motivation for buying Greenland, Elena Panina, a prominent member of Putin's United Russia party and former member of Russian State Duma, posted a new theory on Telegram: "For Russia, the implementation of Trump's plans for Greenland will have military consequences. The island will become the largest US military base. It already houses the US Thule base, which addresses missile defense gaps. But now Greenland could again become a key base for US strategic bombers."
"It would also be logical to deploy land-based medium-range missiles on the island - a reincarnation of the US Armed Forces' Iceworm project from the 1960s, but with a different technical solution. The project involved placing 600 Minuteman missiles shortened to two stages in tunnels in the Greenland ice cap."
What Happens Next
Whether or not Trump is able to buy Greenland, his rhetoric could factor into other major global powers' geopolitical decision making and territorial ambitions, including Russia's expansionist objectives in its immediate neighborhood and beyond.
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