Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea to the situation involving Greenland and the United States.
Speaking Tuesday, January 20, at a year-end 2025 news conference, Lavrov said: “Put the people of Crimea in the place of the people of Greenland, and a lot will probably become clear to you.”
According to Lavrov, in Crimea “people went to a referendum after an unconstitutional coup.”
“And in Greenland no one staged any coups. Simply, as President (U.S. Donald) Trump said, that territory is important for the security of the United States. Crimea is no less important for the security of the Russian Federation than Greenland is for the United States,” the foreign minister continued.
At the same time, the minister said there is no evidence that this autonomous Danish territory will be “seized by Russia or China.”
“We proceed from the fact that… we have nothing to do with this issue. We are observing — it is, without question, a serious geopolitical situation,” Sergei Lavrov added. He said Moscow will draw conclusions “based on how this problem is resolved.”
Earlier, the U.S. President said: “If you look now (at the situation) beyond Greenland, you will see there are Russian destroyers everywhere, Chinese destroyers... as well as Russian submarines.” “We will not allow Russia or China to occupy Greenland, and that is exactly what they will do if we do not take action,” PBS NewsHour quoted Trump as saying.
Danish and other European officials have emphasized that Greenland is protected by NATO’s collective defense provisions. In addition, the American military presence on the island is ensured under a 1951 agreement.
At the news conference, Sergei Lavrov also addressed the situation surrounding the tanker Marinera (Bella1), detained January 7 in the North Atlantic under a U.S. federal court warrant for violating American sanctions.
According to the foreign minister, the United States assured Moscow “that same day or the next morning” that a decision to release two Russian citizens from the ship’s crew “was made at the highest level.” However, “the following days showed that this decision is not being carried out,” he said, expressing hope that “our American colleagues will keep their promise.”
The Bella 1 initially sailed under the Panamanian flag and tried to approach Venezuela’s shores despite a U.S. blockade.
In December 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard sought to detain it, but the crew - citizens of Russia, Ukraine and India - refused to comply and sharply changed course. The crew painted a Russian flag on the hull. A few days later, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and entered into the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
The interdiction operation was carried out with the assistance of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense after a Coast Guard vessel tracked the ship. A boarding party reportedly took part. The boarding occurred before the arrival of Russian warships and a submarine that had set course toward the Marinera shortly beforehand.
