Russia has issued a fresh threat to the west following Donald Trump's latest comments about taking Greenland.
The US President has been very open about his desire to take the Scandinavian territory. Arguably one of Trump's more surprising decisions since beginning his second term in office, it took the 79-year-old almost no time at all to reveal that he wanted to take Greenland over.
The territory, which currently belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, is allegedly wanted by China and Russia, if the President is to be believed.
Claiming that it is essential 'for national security and international security', he claimed last week: "Countries have to have ownership and you defend ownership, you don't defend leases. And we'll have to defend Greenland.
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"We will do it 'the easy way' or 'the hard way'," he added.
Trump has even claimed he would have Greenland 'one way or the other' in more bold statements, with all his claims causing the likes of France, Germany, and Sweden to send military personnel out to Greenland this week.
Denmark has also warned that an attack on Greenland would mark the end of NATO, saying yesterday (14 January) that it was branching its military presence out along with NATO allies.
Russian officials have now hit back at these comments from the US leader, as they believe Trump wants to place nuclear strike forces on the world's largest island to have superiority over rivals such as China and the Kremlin.
Dmitry Rogozin, a senator for part of occupied Ukraine, former deputy prime minister, and an ex-Russian representative at NATO headquarters, claimed that the 'eccentric' President might have to pay for his words.
The former head of the Russian Space Agency also runs a military drone unit targeting Ukrainians on the frontline, though he claims that Trump's plans may lead to an impending doom.
Speaking of the US' desire for a ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system, which would involve Greenland, Rogozin explained: “Orbital sensors, ground interceptors, decision-making algorithms - all this requires advantageous geography.
“Greenland, with its Arctic position, proximity to Russia, and convenience for northern ICBM trajectories, fits perfectly into this architecture.”
He said that Trump is 'fulfilling the Pentagon's will', with the aim to stop negotiating with European allies, claiming they want 'to seize Greenland by force and turn it into a platform for deploying means of both nuclear attack and missile defence interception', of Russian missiles.
Rogozin claimed: “This is the dismantling of the entire system of strategic stability in the world that has prevented the use of nuclear weapons since 1945.”
The senator was involved in developing Russia's new 208-ton intercontinental silo-launched 15,880mph nuclear missile, known as Sarmat or Satan-2.
“In real life, this can only be tested once, but it is not certain that anyone will be left to prepare reports afterwards,” he said of the 14-storey-tall weapon.
He claimed that due to the US being 'led by an eccentric', they may believe that capturing Greenland would result in 'nuclear superiority over Russia and China'.
"This will be the beginning of the end of the world," Rogozin stated.
He claimed that the 1960s were the last time the Pentagon tried to take control of Greenland, in order to place a network of tunnels under the glacier containing missiles.
“The project then failed not for political but geological reasons - the ice turned out to be alive, mobile, and dangerous for the infrastructure of ice missile silos... but technology has advanced far,” Rogozin said.
He believes that the Third World War will take place in the Arctic, acting as the 'fastest route' for nuclear warheads to go between Russia and the US.
Rogozin said that the US would need Greenland to beat Russia in a nuclear conflict, as it can help with swift destruction of their warheads and the interception of their missiles.
Topics: Donald Trump, Greenland, Politics, Russia, World News
Joshua Nair