Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is ready to allow frozen Russian assets to be used to rebuild Ukraine and Gaza, as he seeks to exploit Western infighting over Greenland.
Putin suggested that Russian assets held in the US could be spent on restoring Ukrainian regions damaged by Moscow’s invasion, and that he would give $1bn in assets to Trump’s proposed Gaza Board of Peace.
But while the Russian leader presented his offer as a concession to Ukraine and help to Gaza, analysts called it a thinly veiled attempt to bolster Russia’s position in peace talks and wider international society.
“While it is clear that Putin has not shifted his main aims regarding his war in Ukraine, he is keen to use President Trump’s push for a peace agreement to Russia’s advantage and, in particular, to weaken western efforts to isolate the country and put a stranglehold on the Russian economy,” Neil Melvin, director for international security at defence think-tank Rusi, told The i Paper.
“Putin is, therefore, trying to leverage progress on Ukraine and his involvement in the Gaza Peace Board to get Russian assets held in Europe and the US because of the war unfrozen.”
The Russian President may also be using the Gaza board to re-enter international society. “Membership offers a way to break out of western diplomatic isolation and to regain a role in the Middle East when Russia’s former regional ally, Syrian leader Assad, has been deposed, and its key partner, Iran, has lost regional influence and is in domestic turmoil,” Melvin added.
It comes as Nato’s military alliance, which views Russia as its primary threat, grapples with how to shore up security for Greenland and the Arctic following Trump’s recent threats to take over the territory.
Russia emboldened, not threatened
Trump’s unprecedented attempt to seize control of the territory of a fellow Nato member has plunged the alliance into crisis, sparking crunch talks between the White House and Nato chief Mark Rutte which resulted in an as-yet undefined “framework” for the future of the island.
The US President said that his country “needs” Greenland for national security, claiming Russia and China were advancing on the territory – but analysts warn the fiasco might embolden Putin, rather than deter him.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a strong warning to Europe on Thursday that it must prepare for the possibility that the US would not defend its Nato allies against Russian attack.
In a speech following a meeting with Trump, Zelensky said: “If Putin decided to take Lithuania or strike Poland, who would respond? Nato exists thanks to the belief that the United States will act – that it will not stand aside and will help. But what if it does not?”
He said the US, Russia and Ukraine would hold trilateral talks on Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Putin claimed this week that “what happens in Greenland is of no concern to us whatsoever” but appeared to support Trump’s claim for sovereignty.
The Russian President alleged that Denmark treated Greenland “quite harshly” and identified precedents for land transactions, saying that Russia in 1867 sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2m, and that Denmark in 1917 sold the Virgin Islands to Washington.
Using the Alaska price – adjusted to today and reflective of Greenland’s size – Putin said buying Greenland from Denmark could cost around $1bn, which he said he thought Washington could afford.
US Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance with Col. Susan Meyers, left, commander of the US military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland last March (Photo: Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images)Trump has shared few details about the tentative new deal with Nato over Greenland, but both sides described talks as “very productive”.
The deal would reportedly not permit US control or ownership of Greenland, but could increase the American presence or control over certain areas.
Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland is vital for US national security and that it was “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place”, though he has not provided evidence.
“I love the people of China. I love the people of Russia,” Trump said. “But I don’t want them as a neighbour in Greenland, not going to happen.”
There is no indication that either China or Russia is planning to launch a missile attack on US territory, but the White House might argue that a stronger defence system would have a deterrent effect on possible attacks.
Putin and Donald Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska in August 2025 (Photo: AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson/File)The incident has succeeded in putting greater Western attention on defence in the Arctic, according to Melvin – but may also be a gift to the US and Europe’s adversaries.
“Trump will claim, with some justification, that he’s actually managed to do something that other presidents fail to do. But, of course, the downside is that the way he’s doing it is destroying trust in the US as a security partner. And that, I think, is what the Chinese and the Russians will be looking at,” Melvin said.
Melvin, a former EU adviser and UN consultant, said that China and Russia would be watching the dispute unfold “with popcorn”, “very satisfied with what feels like a fragmentation of the Western alliance”.
US could establish sovereign bases on Greenland
Damage to a residential building following a Russian air strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 9 January (Photo: Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Trump and his administration have repeatedly accused Europe of failing to pull its weight in defence and security, including failing to pay enough into Nato.
However, the US is the only member to have invoked Nato’s Article 5, a clause which views an attack on one member as an attack on all, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The “framework” newly agreed between Trump and Nato could see the alliance stepping up the military exercises in the Arctic, with greater deployments of submarines, ships and planes and “some discussion of a Nato mission to Greenland”, involving potential thousands of Nato troops deployed, Melvin said.
Trump has also been open about his desire to use the territory for a “Golden Dome” – an air and missile defence system to defend the US, inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome.
The new deal may take steps towards this, confirming the installation of new sensors or infrastructure for the project.
The US could also theoretically increase the number of troops stationed on the territory from the existing 150 to 200 US personnel. But these increases in troops or infrastructure could likely be achieved without a new deal.
Why does the US want Greenland?
Greenland is the world’s largest island, around six times the size of Germany.
It is also the most sparsely populated global territory, with a population of around 56,000.
Its location – between North America and the Arctic – makes it strategically useful, particularly for monitoring ships and warning of potential missile attacks.
Many projected flight paths of Russia’s strategic missile force lie over Greenland.
The US has run Pituffik Space Base in Greenland since the Second World War. The base is home to sensors originally designed to detect possible ballistic missiles being launched at the US from the Soviet Union.
The US also operates Thule Site J, a Space Force radar station for missile warning and spacecraft tracking, and has an agreement enabling it to scale up its presence.
But Trump has expressed a desire to outright own Greenland which, it says, the US “needs” for its national security.
Under the 1951 Defence Agreement with Denmark, the US can already increase its presence or infrastructure on the island, providing it has the consent of Greenland and Denmark.
To go beyond this, Melvin suggested that the US may secure a deal for sovereignty over its bases on Greenland for an unlimited amount of time, allowing the US to control the sites permanently rather than have temporary access rights.
This would be akin to the arrangement the UK has with Cyprus, where it has sovereignty over the Akrotiri and Dhekelia military bases.
However, this requires approval which Denmark is unwilling to give.
A Chinook from 18 Squadron RAF, fitted with snow skis, takes part in Arctic military training in Norway (Photo: POPhot Lee Blease/MoD)Denmark has been clear that Nato does not have the authority to hand over parts of its territory, saying “we cannot negotiate our sovereignty”.
Michael Clarke, former director-general of Rusi, previously told The i Paper that “the US might want many more such sites for Golden Dome across the US, Greenland, Canada and maybe also in the UK”, but that “under present arrangements, they can have more or less whatever they want”.
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“The US ability to have more sites, or missile or space launching facilities is automatic” in Greenland, he said.
And Trump may be able to complete the Golden Dome even if the deal does not permit new sites on Greenland.
Retired US Air Force colonel Cedric Leighton previously told The i Paper that as long as there were sufficient sensors “in northern Canada, Alaska, Iceland and Northern Europe, the system could work without having sensors placed in Greenland, but it might not be as reliable.
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