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View all search resultsSpanish PM says US invasion of Greenland 'would make Putin happiest man on earth'
Sanchez said any military action by the US against Denmark's vast Arctic island would damage NATO and legitimize the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
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Leader of the Spanish Socialist Party PSOE Pedro Sanchez gives a speech during a debate on a no-confidence motion at the Lower House of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid on June 01, 2018. Spain's parliament ousted on June 1, 2018 Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party's corruption woes, with his Socialist arch-rival Pedro Sanchez automatically taking over.
(AFP/Emilio Naranjo)
S
panish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said a US invasion of Greenland "would make Putin the happiest man on earth" in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.
Sanchez said any military action by the US against Denmark's vast Arctic island would damage NATO and legitimize the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
"If we focus on Greenland, I have to say that a US invasion of that territory would make Vladimir Putin the happiest man in the world. Why? Because it would legitimize his attempted invasion of Ukraine," he said in an interview in La Vanguardia newspaper.
"If the United States were to use force, it would be the death knell for NATO. Putin would be doubly happy."
President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to change tack over Greenland by vowing to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said additional 10 percent import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain — all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
Those tariffs would increase to 25 percent on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.
Italy's prime minister called President Trump's threat to slap tariffs on opponents of his plan to seize Greenland a "mistake" on Sunday, adding she had told him her views.
"I believe that imposing new sanctions today would be a mistake," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told journalists during a trip to Seoul.
"I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I think, and I spoke to the NATO secretary general, who confirmed that NATO is beginning to work on this issue."
However, the far-right prime minister -- a Trump ally in Europe -- sought to downplay the conflict, telling journalists "there has been a problem of understanding and communication" between Europe and the United States related to the Arctic island, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
