The Government of Vladimir Putin "will take appropriate countermeasures, including military and technical ones", if Greenland is militarized against the Kremlin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured this Wednesday, February 11, before Parliament. The warning comes as NATO launches the Arctic Sentinel mission to ease tension over US President Donald Trump's threat to take control of the semi-autonomous island belonging to Denmark.

First modification: 02/11/2026 - 19:16Last modification: 02/11/2026 - 20:19

Tension over Greenland escalates and decisions regarding its security seem to be left between a rock and a hard place.

"Of course, if Greenland is militarized and military capabilities directed at Russia are created there, we will take appropriate countermeasures, including military and technical ones," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned before the Duma on February 11.

When questioned by legislators about the United States' desire to take control of the island, the Foreign Minister of Vladimir Putin's Administration distanced himself from the "Greenland problem," stating that it is an issue that "does not directly concern" Russia and that "should be resolved" by the United States, Denmark and the Government of the semi-autonomous Arctic territory, "taking into account the opinion of the island's inhabitants."

Senior Kremlin officials have avoided openly criticizing US President Donald Trump's expansionist desire for Greenland and have questioned whether the island is part of Denmark. Putin even assured in the past that the current US Administration's plans to "annex" Greenland are not "a crazy idea" by the current president of the White House, but rather have "historical roots."

Lavrov accused Copenhagen on Wednesday of treating Greenlanders "very harshly for many years, as if they were second-class citizens", for which he condemned "a double standard", as he claims, applied by the West on the island.

"The Arctic must remain a zone of peace and cooperation," Lavrov concluded before the leaders of the Legislature.

Read alsoRubio: US will hold “technical” meetings on Greenland with Denmark; calls for “reinventing” NATO capabilities

Between Russia, China and the US: NATO seeks to shield the Arctic

The threats from Russia came at a time when NATO launched a mission this Wednesday to reinforce its presence in the Arctic, as part of an effort to reduce serious tensions within the alliance, caused by threats from the United States.

The new mission, Arctic Sentry, will coordinate a growing military presence of the political-military alliance's allies in the region, including exercises such as Denmark's Arctic Endurance in Greenland, the alliance's military headquarters said in a statement.

NATO did not specify the number of troops or the type of military resources that would participate in the mission. However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the mission would bring together the efforts of several alliance members under a single command, given Russia and China's increased interest in the Arctic, where new sea routes are opening up due to melting ice.

"Not only will we be able to take advantage of what we are doing much more effectively (...) We will also be able to evaluate what gaps exist and which ones we need to fill. And, of course, we will fill them," he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

NATO began planning the mission after Trump and Rutte held talks in Davos last January, at the height of the crisis, sparked by Trump's insistence that the United States should own the territory, which is part of Denmark, another member of the transatlantic organization.

Trump claimed Washington needed the Arctic island for "national security reasons," citing its strategic location to detect long-range missile attacks against the United States. He refused to rule out taking Greenland by force and threatened to impose tariffs on Denmark and seven of its European partners.

Danish and other European leaders responded that the United States already has a military base in Greenland and can add more under a 1951 agreement. Some Old Continent officials said Trump's main motivation would be only the desire to expand American territory.

Against this backdrop, Denmark, supported by the European Union, agreed with NATO at the beginning of 2026 to strengthen security in the North Atlantic, as ratified by the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen and Mark Rutte after a meeting in Brussels on January 23.

"Defense and security in the Arctic are a matter that concerns the entire alliance," Frederiksen said then, in response to Donald Trump's repeated threats to use force to take control of the Arctic island, key to maritime trade and the security of the Western Hemisphere.

Now, as the American president shows satisfaction with an agreement with NATO on its participation in Greenland, some Russian officials are beginning to suspect the rearmament of the Danish enclave.

Lavrov emphasized that while the Kremlin has not yet entered into a “strategic dialogue” with the Trump Administration, Moscow “is always open to talks.”

The Danish Army's maneuvers in Greenland to reinforce security and military presence on the Arctic island will continue throughout 2026, the Nordic country's military command reported in January. European countries and the United States have historically deployed soldiers and military equipment to Greenland for military exercises.

More recently, Germany, France, Sweden and Norway sent personnel to the island for further military exercises in January 2026. The German Defense Ministry explained that the joint deployment was ordered "with a view to possible military contributions aimed at supporting Denmark in ensuring security in the region, for example in the field of maritime surveillance capabilities."

Read alsoGreenland: Denmark agrees with NATO to shield the Arctic against tensions with Trump

Expired nuclear treaty

Russia's renewed threats against the West come a week after the expiration of the 'New START' nuclear treaty, which leaves decades of limitations on nuclear weapons in the air. The 2010 treaty expired on February 5, leaving the world's two largest nuclear powers without binding restrictions on their strategic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, rejected an offer from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who proposed voluntarily complying with the limits of 'New START' for one more year. But the Republican refused, arguing that he wanted a "new, improved and modernized" treaty rather than an extension of the previous one.

"Our position is that this moratorium on our part, declared by the president, remains in force, but only as long as the United States does not exceed these limits," Lavrov told the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. And he added that Russia will act "in a responsible and balanced manner, based on the analysis of US military policies."

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The leader of Russian diplomacy added that his government has "reason to believe that the United States is in no hurry to deviate from these indicators [of the 'New START'], and in the foreseeable future they will be maintained", without detailing the nature of the evidence that leads to that inference.

The president of the Russian Chamber of Deputies, Viacheslav Volodin, today awarded Lavrov, 75, with the Duma medal, for his management at the head of Russian diplomacy since 2004.

Also read EE. US and Russia without nuclear agreement: will a new one be agreed that includes China?

With Reuters, EFE and AP

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