Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in an interview with the newspaper "Vanguardia" that any US invasion of Greenland "would make Putin the happiest man on earth", Reuters reported.
Any US military action against the vast Danish Arctic island would damage NATO and legitimize Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sanchez stressed.
"If we focus on Greenland, I have to say that an American invasion of this territory would make Vladimir Putin the happiest man in the world. Why? Because it would legitimize his attempted invasion of Ukraine," he said in an interview with the newspaper "Vanguardia".
"If the US uses force, it would be a death sentence for NATO. Putin would be doubly happy."
President Donald Trump appeared to change his position on Greenland, vowing to impose a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland. In an op-ed in "Truth Social", Trump said that additional 10 percent import duties would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the UK - all of which are already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
These tariffs will increase to 25 percent on June 1 and will remain in place until an agreement is reached on the purchase of Greenland by the US, Trump stressed. He has repeatedly stated that he will not settle for anything less than ownership of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark. The leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have stated that the island is not for sale and does not want to become part of the United States.