Russia is expected to view a planned new American base at Mestersvig in Greenland negatively, but has so far stayed silent, according to DIIS senior researcher Flemming Splidsboel.
The United States plans to establish two new military bases in Greenland, one at Narsarsuaq and one at Mestersvig. DR reports that the plans follow the Greenland agreement signed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, US President Donald Trump and Greenlandic leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Flemming Splidsboel, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told DR that Russia would view the Mestersvig base very negatively. He pointed to American rhetoric about Russia and China.
There has been no Russian reaction so far to the plan for a base in eastern Greenland. According to Splidsboel, that restraint may be linked to Moscow’s own strategic interests.
He said Russia is staying quiet partly in the hope of gains regarding Ukraine. Silence on Greenland could later be presented to Trump as a favor, per his assessment.
Splidsboel said it is not currently likely that Russia gains control of Ukraine. He added that Moscow may still hope for such an outcome in talks with Trump.
Seen as an American base
The base would sit in Greenland under an agreement between the United States, Denmark and Greenland. Even so, Russia will regard it as American, Splidsboel said. He described it as neither a NATO, a Danish nor a Greenlandic base.
One purpose would be surveillance of the waters in and around Greenland, according to Splidsboel. He said the base would also serve to monitor the wider Arctic region.
Russia is spending heavily on the war in Ukraine, but the Arctic remains a priority for Moscow, he said. Splidsboel said Russia would try to escalate in the Arctic if it could.
As noted by Splidsboel, Russia sees itself as a central Arctic power. He said Russians consider themselves the most Arctic of all the Arctic states.
Reuters reported on September 21, 2026, that Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland was previously the American Bluie West One base. That base closed in the 1950s. Mestersvig, on the east coast, is used by Denmark’s Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.
The agreement was signed in New York on September 22, according to Reuters. It allows the United States to expand its military presence, including the existing Pituffik Space Base. Reuters also reported that the text sets no troop numbers and no timetable for the new bases.
