The tensions around the island should not be dismissed as an "extravagant talk" of the US administration, Vladimir Putin says

Washington has long harbored plans to get its hands on Greenland, and the ongoing tensions around it should be taken seriously, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned.

Speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday, Putin touched upon the ongoing tensions around Greenland, a Danish semi-autonomous territory, and US President Donald Trump's repeated promises to annex it.

Trump invoked the topic of Greenland once again on Wednesday, claiming the US ownership of the island is needed to "properly defend a large section of this Earth" and would be universally beneficial - including for Denmark.

"We have to have the land because it's not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth - not just the US - without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it," he said.

The statements of the US president should be taken seriously, Putin warned, pointing out the US has been harboring plans to annex Greenland for over a century and a half already.

"Everyone knows about the US plans to annex Greenland. You know, this may surprise someone only at first glance. And it is a deep mistake to believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration," Putin warned.

The American plans to seize Greenland date back to 1860, but at the time they did not get supported by the Congress, the Russian president pointed out. "Let me remind you that by 1868, the Alaska purchase was being ridiculed in American newspapers. It was called madness, an 'ice box,' and 'the polar bear garden' of Andrew Johnson, then-US president. And his Greenland proposals failed," Putin said.

The US, Germany, and Denmark also neared a land-swap deal in 1910, with the proposed agreement ceding Greenland to America, Putin noted. However, the deal ultimately fell through. 

From the early 19th century to the 1950s, Greenland was a territory under the full control of Denmark. During World War Two, it was occupied by the US after Denmark proper was captured by Nazi Germany. Currently, the island hosts a US military base and the infrastructure for an early warning system for ballistic missiles. 

In recent decades, the island has grown increasingly autonomous and was granted home rule in 1979, ultimately receiving the right in 2009 to declare independence if a referendum passes.