Putin: "U.S. Purchase Price for Greenland Would Be 1.5 Trillion Won"

Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated the price the United States would pay to purchase Greenland at 1 billion dollars (approximately 1.468 trillion won), based on Russia's past sale of Alaska.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a video conference with government officials. Photo by TASS Yonhap News

According to media outlets such as TASS, President Putin said at a National Security Council meeting on the 21st (local time) regarding the controversy over the U.S. attempt to annex Greenland, "We have experience resolving similar issues with the United States," and made these remarks.

President Putin stated, "It is an issue that the United States and Denmark must resolve," but added, "Russia sold Alaska, which has an area of about 1,717,000 square kilometers, to the United States in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars. If calculated at today's prices, that would be about 158 million dollars."

He continued, "Since Greenland is about 450,000 square kilometers larger than Alaska, the price of Greenland would be about 200 to 250 million dollars compared to the cost of Alaska. If we take into account changes in the price of gold, this amount would be close to 1 billion dollars today."

President Putin also pointed out Denmark's experience selling the Virgin Islands to the United States, saying, "Even if Denmark was not always brutal towards Greenland as a colony, it was still quite harsh." Some have commented that these remarks seem to encourage, rather than oppose, the U.S. purchase of Greenland.

Currently, Denmark is criticizing Russia's "special military operation" and supporting Ukraine. Some analysts suggest that Russia is welcoming the situation in which Western unity is being shaken by the Greenland dispute, leading to weakened support for Ukraine.