US-Europe standoff on Greenland 'a big win for Putin': Danish parliament defence chair

For US President Donald Trump, mocking a country or a leader is not just a reality TV-style soundbite, it is an early warning sign of military action. Trump scorned Nicolas Maduro for "playing tough" before snatching the Venezuelan leader. Now he contemptuously talks of Denmark "adding two more dogsleds" to defend Greenland. European countries do appear to be taking this latest threat seriously, but can they actually stop Trump from taking over Greenland? And how do they navigate this crisis when they must also stay focused on Ukraine? We put these questions to Rasmus Jarlov, chair of the defence committee in the Danish parliament.

We cut to the chase: Is Denmark expecting a US invasion of Greenland?

"We still don't consider that the most likely scenario, because it would be so disastrous and so crazy and so damaging also for the Americans," Jarlov answers. "But we can't afford to rule it out when the American government continuously refuses to take it off the table. Of course we have to be prepared for that scenario also."

Read moreTaking over Greenland, a long-standing US obsession

Jarlov says Denmark is grateful for the solidarity that EU and NATO friends are showing by joining military exercises being carried out by the Danish defence forces in and around Greenland.

"It means everything to us because we are a small country of 6 million people, and we cannot stand up to the Americans ourselves," Jarlov says. "So it is important that others step up in a situation like this, when we are under so much pressure. We must show that we mean it, and that we cannot allow anyone to take our territory. We are so grateful for the support we're receiving from France, from Germany, from other reliable allies."

Watch moreWhat will Europe actually do to defend Greenland?

So what about the worst-case development – an American invasion?

"That would be a horrible scenario for everybody," Jarlov says. "There would be absolutely no winners because the Americans already have access to Greenland. Annexing Greenland is not going to give them anything that they don't already have. Where they have full military access, they can have as many bases as they want. They used to have about 30 bases and they only have one today. They've completely downscaled their presence, but if they want to upscale it again, the door is wide open. If they want to do mining in Greenland, the door is also wide open. And so annexing Greenland wouldn't gain anything that they don't already have. And it would cause a lot of problems because our relationship would be over. Our alliance would be finished. And we would also have a complete meltdown of NATO."

And the winner in that scenario would be Russian President Vladimir Putin, presumably?

"This [situation] is a very unwelcome and unnecessary distraction from our efforts in Ukraine," Jarlov explains. "Denmark is the top contributor to Ukraine per person. There's no other population in the world where each person has given as much money as Denmark to Ukraine, and that's by a large margin. And we want to help Ukraine with everything we can. We don't want to have to defend ourselves on the western flank as well. And now we have a distraction where we actually have to move troops up to Greenland. So far, in small numbers. But this is a big win for Putin. If he can split the Western alliance, if the Americans can insist on any part of our territory, and he can split, maybe even destroy NATO, then he is the big winner. It would be fantastic for him."

Read morePutin says not surprised by Trump's Greenland bid due to longstanding US mineral interests

We ask Jarlov if the crisis has tempered the desire for independence among Greenlanders. "It's up to the Greenlanders to draw that conclusion, of course," he asserts. "But it's becoming very clear what the alternative to being a part of Denmark is, and that is to be swallowed by the United States. So that means that Greenlanders right now are not talking about independence because they first of all want to avoid being taken by the Americans."

Programme prepared by Paul Guianvarc'h, Oihana Almandoz and Perrine Desplats