In line with Donald Trump’s idea on burden-sharing or burden-shifting with regard to further financial and military support for Ukraine, the Trump administration has started to transfer the Ukraine issue to the European Union as one of its first steps after Trump’s return to the White House. In addition, US President Donald Trump, frustrated by unsuccessful negotiations with Vladimir Putin and his team, as well as by certain crazy steps taken by the EU, has shifted his focus away from peacemaking in Ukraine and has turned his attention to other regions, referring to the imminent need to pursue US interests there.
The US National Security Strategy released in last November left no doubt that the Trump administration not only does not consider Europe to be a partner equal to the US, but actually views it as a bloc that is weak in every respect and on a downward economic and social trajectory. ’But this economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.’, the strategy says. According to the document, European states are trapped in political crisis, that is why they cannot reform themselves. It also says that it is a priority for the US to ’enable Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking primary responsibility for its own defense, without being dominated by any adversarial power’. With this strategy, the Trump administration made it clear that the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect the US and the access to key geographies throughout the region.
From this point, it took only one step for Washington to set its sights on Greenland, a piece of land of strategic importance to the US and, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenlanders are Danish citizens and, by extension, EU citizens, though Greenland is not in the EU.
The successful intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Maduro not only inspired Trump, but also emboldened him. After promising thousands of protesters in Tehran marching against the oppressive regime that ’help is on its way’, he turned his attention to Greenland instead, with the aim of raising the stars and stripes flag there, albeit only with the help of an AI-generated image, for the time being.
Regarding the issue of Greenland, it is worth studying Russia’s stance since it is closely related with the Ukrainian issue. In an article, the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta openly praises Trump and criticise European leaders who oppose a US annexation of Greenland.
’If Trump annexes Greenland by July 4 2026, when America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he will go down in history as a figure who asserted the greatness of the United States,’ Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes adding that ’if, thanks to Trump, Greenland becomes part of America, for sure the American people will not forget such an achievement.’
With Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claiming that Crimea is ’no less important for Russia’s security than Greenland is for the United States,’ and the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov citing unnamed experts as saying that Trump would make history by annexing Greenland, Moscow has made it clear that there is no place for good old European hypocricy and double standards comparing the United States’ efforts to expand its territory with Russia’s war in Ukraine.
With such clear explanations on behalf of Russia’s top officials, it is really not too difficult to see the parallels between the Crimea and Greenland.
It is also worth mentioning that, in this chaotic situation, Trump has advised Europe to focus on the Russo-Ukrainian war instead of Greenland. When asked if he will follow through on plans to hit the European nations with tariffs absent a Greenland deal, Trump said, ’I will, 100%.’
It needs to be stressed that, Trump’s desire to take over Greenland whether peacefully or even with force, has made the situation in Ukraine very complicated and extremely difficult given that not only Ukraine but also EU countries also dependent on U.S. weaponry. Ukraine’s defence is based on American techonology such as the American-made Patriot systems and their associated air defense interceptors which cannot be substituted. With a US turning away from Ukraine, Kyiv’s defence will soon collapse and no EU technology can help.
According to a document seen by journalists of the Ukrainian paper Kyiv Independent, Ukraine needs at least $27 billion in military equipment from non-European Union sources in 2026. (Non-EU practically means American.) The problem is that the EU is either unable to match U.S.-made systems or to produce them fast enough. The transatlantic spat between the US and Europe over Greenland has come at a critical time for Ukraine which is experiencing the coldest winter in many years, the paper adds. Amid continued Russian air strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure, President Zelenskyy revealed that some of Ukraine’s air defense systems had completely run out of ammunition.
At the same time, top EU officials claim that work on security guarantees for Ukraine, which the EU and the US plan to provide after a peace agreement is reached, has continued despite the messy situation over Greenland. It also should be noted that the European Parliament has recently voted on applying an accelerated procedure to approve a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine for the next two years. (The EP’s decision will be followed by an accelerated process of discussion and adoption of the legislative proposals put forward by the European Commission. The final texts will have to be approved by the EU Council. And this is where EU countries critical of Ukraine, such as Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia could torpedo the scheme.)
Add to all this that both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been invited to join Donald Trump’s ’Board of Peace’, an initiative originally launched to settle the conflict in Gaza but ultimately turned out to be a global peacemaking body. According to plans, it will also be involved in peace talks concerning the Russia-Ukraine war.
For Russia, Greenland offers and ideal solution to its Ukraine problem, POLITICO says, citing the opinion of a pro-Kremlin political analyst who also claimes that tensions between Europe and the US could serve as a stepping stone to the break-up of NATO. Then the EU will be forced to stop its war against Russia, he warns.
The US national security strategy was right when assessing that European states are trapped in political crisis. The spat between the EU and the US over Greenland has not only worsened this crisis but it has also pushed Ukraine to the brink of collapse. Whatever happens with Greenland, there is no doubt that while Russia has taken a big step towards victory, Ukraine has hit rock bottom and a miracle would be needed to get up from this KO.
For all this, President Zelenskyy can only blame himself and those European politicians who have insisted over the past four years that Russia must be stopped, even if it means billions of euros and fighting to the last Ukrainian soldier. In 2026, they suddenly have found themselves caught in that very trap they had set for Vladimir Putin.
