Danish Intelligence Issued Stark Warnings on Russian, Chinese Military Ambitions Toward Greenland as Political Leaders Dismissed Threat

Denmark’s own defense intelligence assessment warned in detail that Russia and China are expanding military cooperation, surveillance, and long-term strategic ambitions in the Arctic and around Greenland, even as Danish politicians and China publicly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s security concerns.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

While Danish political leaders have publicly pushed back on President Donald Trump’s warnings about Russian and Chinese threats to Greenland, Denmark’s intelligence service delivered a far more sobering assessment behind the scenes, warning that both Moscow and Beijing are pursuing expanding military, strategic, and long-term objectives in the Arctic and toward Greenland, according to a report published by Just the News.

Denmark’s own intelligence arm, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, outlined those concerns in its Intelligence Outlook 2025 assessment, released last month, which bluntly warned that “China is preparing for a military presence in the Arctic” and that “China’s long-term Arctic interests include Greenland.” The assessment detailed Chinese air-based, maritime, and submersible activity across the Arctic region.

The intelligence report also assessed that Russia and China are deepening cooperation in the Arctic, reflecting what analysts have described as the growing “DragonBear” alignment between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the two governments coordinate strategically and militarily in the region. According to the assessment, Russia “uses every available tool to monitor and chart the waters between Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the United Kingdom” as part of preparations for a potential confrontation with NATO, deploying submarines, surface vessels, aircraft, and even civilian ships to conduct surveillance near Greenland.

Trump said last week that the United States needs Greenland “from the standpoint of national security,” arguing that the autonomous Danish territory was “covered” with Russian and Chinese ships, remarks he made publicly and in media appearances last week. Danish foreign policy and defense officials moved quickly to dispute those claims, with senior Danish politicians and diplomats seeking to push back and even describing the idea of a Russian or Chinese threat to Greenland as “delusional,” a narrative also echoed by European media coverage.

Chinese state media and officials amplified those denials. Chinese propaganda outlets and the country’s foreign ministry echoed Danish statements and claimed the United States was acting out of self-interest rather than legitimate security concerns.

The Danish intelligence assessment, however, painted a sharply different picture. It warned that China’s long-term objectives include establishing the capability to operate both surface ships and submarines in Arctic waters, stressing that the Arctic provides ideal conditions for hiding missile submarines beneath the ice cap and launching nuclear weapons with shortened flight times. The report stated that China aims to develop an independent military operating capability in the Arctic within five to ten years, seeking parity with U.S. and Russian second-strike nuclear capabilities.

The report further found that Russia views the waters east of Greenland as strategically vital, particularly the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, or GIUK Gap, describing it as “the main maritime gateway to and from the Arctic.” In a conflict with NATO, the report said Russia would seek to disrupt U.S.-European supply lines by deploying attack submarines capable of transiting the gap undetected, while simultaneously tracking NATO submarine movements.

Despite the geographical distance, the assessment said Russia periodically deploys submarines, surface vessels, and aircraft near Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and uses civilian vessels sailing near Greenland “to carry out tasks such as surveillance on behalf of the Russian state.” It also warned that Russia, under pressure from Western sanctions, is likely to deepen Arctic cooperation with China and allow Beijing greater access to the Russian Arctic, including joint military exercises that could begin as early as 2026.

The Danish intelligence report also addressed economic motivations intertwined with security concerns, noting Russia’s ambitions to control Arctic access routes and exploit natural resources, and China’s interest in Arctic shipping lanes and mineral and energy resources. While Chinese investments in Greenland have so far produced limited tangible results, the report said Beijing continues to pursue long-term cooperation with Greenland in research and commercial ventures.

U.S. intelligence assessments have mirrored those warnings. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 2025 annual threat assessment documented growing Russian and Chinese ambitions in the Arctic and specifically identified Greenland as strategically significant. The Pentagon’s Arctic Strategy, published in 2024 during the Biden administration, similarly warned that increased cooperation between Russia and China could alter the region’s security environment and threaten stability.

Trump doubled down on his position in subsequent remarks, saying over the weekend, “If we don’t take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland — and I’m not letting that happen,” comments he expanded on in another appearance over the weekend. He also said Sunday that Russian and Chinese destroyers and submarines were operating near Greenland, remarks he made during a conversation reported by Fox News this week.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected that characterization, telling reporters that “the image that’s being painted of Russian and Chinese ships right inside the Nuuk fjord and massive Chinese investments being made is not correct,” comments he made to the press and later reiterated in interviews reported by Reuters and The Guardian.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian also responded directly, arguing that the United States should “stop using the so-called ‘China threat’ as a pretext for itself to seek selfish gains,” remarks archived here.

The Danish intelligence assessment nevertheless concluded that the Arctic represents the first and most critical line of early warning for the United States in a potential great-power conflict, highlighting the role of U.S. radar systems at Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland in detecting hostile missile launches. It stressed that Greenland’s location makes it central to Arctic security, missile defense, and transatlantic military logistics.

As diplomatic tensions rise, the intelligence findings underscore a widening gap between public political messaging and classified threat assessments, even as Greenland’s future, Arctic militarization, and great-power competition move to the center of global security debates.