Russia’s Lavrov says Greenland is not ‘a natural part’ of Denmark

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Greenland was not “a natural part” of Denmark and that the problem of former colonial territories was becoming more acute.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants full U.S. control of Greenland for national security reasons and on Saturday announced tariffs on imports from European allies that oppose a potential U.S. takeover.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia had no interest in interfering in Greenland’s affairs and that Washington knew that Moscow itself had no plans to take control of the island.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)