Kremlin-aligned nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin has argued that US President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland could provide Russia with the justification to discard international
law and expand its own territorial claims across parts of Eurasia.
The Russian ultra-nationalist thinker often cited in Western commentary as influential in Kremlin circles, said Moscow would be “obliged to do something horrible” to restore its credibility in a world where power, rather than international norms, dictates outcomes.
Referring to Trump’s repeated assertions that the United States needs “complete and total control” of Greenland to ensure global security, Dugin said Russia should respond by openly embracing imperial logic and territorial expansion.
In remarks posted on X, Dugin argued that if Washington could claim new territory in the name of national security, Moscow should do the same. “Only brutality, force, mass destruction and cruelty matter in a Trump-like world,” he said.
Dugin listed Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as territories that Russia should move to dominate, framing such action as part of a broader effort to reconstruct Russia’s imperial sphere of influence.
He also suggested that Moscow should proclaim a “Eurasian Monroe Doctrine”, discard international law and accept a global order dominated by three powers — the United States, Russia and China.
“If Trump says, ‘This is my territory, it will be American’, then we should say, ‘This is our territory, it will be Russian’,” Dugin said, adding that the West should belong to “Westerners” and the East to “Easterners”.
Russia continues to wield significant political, economic and military influence across Central Asia and the Caucasus. Millions of migrant workers from the region are employed in Russia, sending remittances home that underpin local economies, while several countries remain tied to Moscow through trade and customs arrangements.
However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some former Soviet republics have sought to recalibrate their foreign policy, deepening ties with the European Union, China, Turkey and Gulf states to reduce dependence on Moscow.
Dugin also warned of possible pressure on other regions, including the Baltics and Moldova, with particular attention on Narva, a Russian-speaking city in eastern Estonia located on NATO’s frontier.
The remarks come amid rising tensions between the US and its European allies after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on several NATO countries if they opposed his proposed takeover of Greenland, a move that European leaders have described as coercive.
