🎙️Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin's interview with "Izvestia" newspaper (January 12, 2026)

#NATO #Arctic

• The NATO bloc is not set up for dialogue, but for military confrontation and rivalry with Russia, including in the Arctic. There is a steady increase in the military activity of NATO in the region, both at sea, on land, and in the airspace, including the armed forces of such alliance countries as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, far from the Arctic. Denmark plays an initiative role in inviting NATO states to the Arctic.

• Interest in the Arctic is driven by its growing strategic importance. Instead of advancing the goals of developing mutually beneficial international cooperation in high latitudes, the attention of these countries is focused on military aspects. Such one-sidedness of Western priorities has a detrimental effect on the situation in the Arctic.

#ArcticCouncil

• Denmark assumed the chairmanship of the Arctic Council in May 2025. However, Copenhagen doesn't intend to achieve breakthrough positive changes in the development of international cooperation under the auspices of the Arctic Council.

• The disappointing state of affairs in the Arctic Council is the choice of our neighbors in the region, who refused to cooperate with our country. As a result, the region's common challenges in the field of ecology, the effects of climate change, the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable development of economic and transport potential remain without a proper joint response from the Arctic states.

• Our neighbors are beginning to understand that Russia's participation in international Arctic cooperation is essential and indispensable. However, there are no signs that they are ready to restore full-fledged cooperation with our country. <...>

#Greenland

• Denmark states that international security considerations cannot serve as grounds for annexing the island and demands that the United States respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Danish kingdom.

• Upon that, Denmark continues to view the United States as a guarantor of its security and strives to maintain cooperation and trust in bilateral relations. <...>

• Greenland, for its part, strives for independence and states that it does not want to remain part of the Danish Kingdom or become part of the United States in the future. At the same time, Greenland is interested in the closest relations with the United States, especially in American investments necessary for the sustainability of the island's economy.

• The recently updated US national security strategy, in fact, revives the Monroe doctrine, which supposedly assumes US responsibility for the situation in the Western Hemisphere. In practice, this means that Greenland is considered to be within the sphere of US interest. Therefore, it will be difficult to avoid tensions between US ambitions, Greenland's desire for independence and Denmark's sovereignty over this Arctic island.

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