Senior Nordic diplomats have dismissed US President Donald Trump’s assertions that Russian and Chinese vessels are operating near Greenland, calling the claims baseless and unsupported by intelligence.
According to a report by the Financial Times, two high-ranking diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings said there has been no evidence of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines in Greenland’s waters in recent years.
One diplomat described Trump’s statements as simply untrue, insisting that intelligence reports show no such maritime presence.
Another said suggestions that Greenland’s surrounding seas are “crawling” with foreign vessels are unfounded, adding that Russian naval activity remains confined to its own Arctic waters rather than near Danish territory.
The claims form part of Trump’s renewed insistence that the United States must take ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
He has argued that American control of the vast, mineral-rich island is necessary to prevent Russia or China from gaining a strategic foothold in the Arctic. However, he has offered no evidence to support his repeated warnings of imminent foreign encroachment.
Denmark has firmly rejected these assertions. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stated that depictions of Chinese investment and Russian or Chinese ships appearing in Nuuk’s fjords are incorrect.
The controversy has stirred unease in Greenland itself. The island’s assembly has announced it will bring forward a meeting to determine how to respond to what it described as American threats to seize control.
Greenland’s population of roughly 57,000 has long aspired to eventual independence from Denmark, and Trump’s renewed interest in the territory has reignited anxieties about external interference.
Coming shortly after US military involvement in Venezuela, Trump’s rhetoric has heightened concern that Greenland could become the next focus of aggressive American foreign policy ambitions, despite clear denials from both Danish officials and Nordic intelligence sources.