Putin puts a price on Greenland: up to $1 billion

Moscow.- Russian President Vladimir Putin today put a price on Greenland, an Arctic island that the United States wants to buy despite Danish opposition: between 200 and 1,000 million dollars.

«The surface of Greenland is a little larger (than that of the Alaskan peninsula that Russia sold to the U.S. in the 19th century) (…) That means that if we compare it to the cost of the purchase of Alaska by the U.S., the price for Greenland would be around 200-250 million dollars,» he said during a meeting of the Russian Security Council, the second one convened this week. "If we compare with the gold prices of that time, that figure would be higher, surely close to 1 billion. I think the United States can reach that figure," he added.

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Putin pointed out that Russia has historical experience in this regard with the sale of Alaska, which Washington bought in 1867 from Tsar Alexander II for $7.2 million, at $4.73 per square kilometer (about 158 million at the current exchange rate, according to the Russian president). In addition, he recalled that Denmark always treated Greenland as a colony and in a "rather harsh, not to say cruel" manner, reports the TASS agency. Putin rules out interest in Greenland. However, Putin assured that this matter "does not concern us" and expressed his conviction that Washington and Copenhagen will eventually reach an agreement.