The US president has said he wants to prevent Russia and China from taking over the Danish island

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Denmark's defenses of Greenland are "two dog sleds," renewing his push for the European NATO member to relinquish its sovereignty over the island.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed that Russia or China could take over the Danish territory at any moment.

"Greenland - basically their defense is two dog sleds," he said. "In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place. We're not going to let that happen."

Since the 19th century, a number of US officials have argued that the Arctic island, which already hosts a US military base, should become American territory. After Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring Greenland early in his second term on national security grounds, Copenhagen said it would bolster its defenses by adding dog sled patrols and purchasing two more Arctic inspection vessels to supplement Greenland's aging fleet of four.

Media reports noted at the time that there were 12 dog sled units. The autonomous Danish territory is largely ice-covered, with settlements and infrastructure mostly confined to coastal areas.

Nordic nations have dismissed Trump's claims about purported Russian and Chinese threats to Greenland, saying no military activity has been detected in the area in recent years, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

"It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines," a senior European diplomat told the newspaper.

Earlier this month, the US military raided Venezuela to abduct President Nicolas Maduro. According to Trump administration officials, the operation was partly intended to reinforce Washington's hegemony in the Western Hemisphere and counter Russian and Chinese influence in South America.

(RT.com)