• Russian TV declares “pass the popcorn” while alliance splinters over Arctic grab
• Lavrov: “One NATO member may attack another—hard to imagine, yet here we are”
• Putin envoy claims trans-Atlantic union is “imploding before our eyes”

MOSCOW (TDR) — State anchor Olga Skabeyeva opened Monday’s prime-time newscast with a montage of European leaders shouting over Trump’s Greenland ultimatum, then toasted the camera: “The collective West is eating itself—pass the popcorn.”

Her gleeful segment captured the wider Kremlin mood: after decades of trying to fracture NATO, Russian leaders see Washington threatening military action against fellow alliance capital Copenhagen and are openly savoring the spectacle.

“It was hard to imagine before that such a thing could happen—one NATO member is going to attack another NATO member.”

—Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, 21 Jan 2026 [^48^]

State TV Victory Laps

Rossiya-1 replayed Danish troop deployments and U.S. tariff threats on a loop while banner headlines screamed “Europe at a total loss—it’s a pleasure to watch.” [^46^]

Putin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told the channel:

“The collapse of the trans-Atlantic union is under way. We warned for decades that NATO’s expansion would backfire—now we watch it implode.” [^47^]

Military Analysts: A Gift to Moscow

Former NATO Defense College head Arne Bård Dalhaug told Danish radio:

“Trump’s threats come across as a gift-wrapped present to Putin—free hands in Eastern Europe while America quarrels with allies.” [^41^]

Royal Danish Defence College analyst Anders Puck Nielsen warned that if U.S. troops actually move against Greenland, “it will be the end of NATO as a credible alliance.” [^41^]

Article 5 Dilemma

War-on-the-Rocks analyst Robbie Gramer notes an invasion would force NATO into an impossible choice:

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• Uphold Article 5 and defend Denmark against the United States—splitting the alliance; or
• Ignore Article 5 and shatter the credibility of collective defense.

“Either scenario is a strategic windfall for Moscow.” [^40^]

Lavrov’s Broader Pitch

In his annual press conference, Lavrov framed the Greenland spat as proof that the “Euro-Atlantic security model has discredited itself,” repeating a line Russian diplomats have used since 2008.

“Now it’s not the Collective West writing the rules but just one of its representatives. We are watching this serious geopolitical situation and will make our conclusions when it’s settled.” [^48^]

Social-Media Amplification

Kremlin-boosted hashtags #GreenlandExit and #NATOMeltdown trended worldwide, with bot accounts posting side-by-side maps of NATO before and after a hypothetical U.S. expulsion.

“Let them tear each other apart—Russia will pick up the pieces.”

—pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Donbass Insider [^38^]

Arctic Chessboard

Beyond memes, Moscow is moving pieces on the real board. The Northern Fleet announced “routine” exercises off Novaya Zemlya—within 500 miles of Greenland—while Rosneft signed a fresh oil-and-gas exploration deal with Greenland’s semi-autonomous neighbor Iceland. [^47^]

“When your opponent punches himself in the face, you don’t interrupt— you grab the popcorn and secure the perimeter.”

—retired Russian colonel Mikhail Khodarenok on Channel One

Historical Echoes

Kremlin watchers note the spectacle revives a playbook Moscow has used since the 1956 Suez crisis: amplify Western divisions while presenting Russia as the grown-up in the room. The difference now is the rift is inside NATO itself, not between Europe and Washington.

“For seventy years Moscow dreamed of an intra-NATO civil war. Today it’s streaming live on CNN.”

—Carnegie Moscow Center visiting scholar Andrei Kolesnikov

Domestic Payoff

State media’s saturation coverage serves a domestic purpose too: convincing Russians that Western sanctions and battlefield setbacks in Ukraine are secondary to a larger imperial meltdown. Polls released Tuesday show 68 % of Russians now believe “NATO will collapse within five years,” up from 41 % in December. [^49^]

“Every Greenland headline is a reminder that the enemy is busy destroying himself—why interrupt?”

—political technologist close to the Kremlin

Bottom Line

With no troops deployed and no shots fired, Moscow is already counting the Greenland crisis as its cheapest NATO-disruption campaign in decades—one that Washington is funding all by itself.

If the alliance fractures over an ice-covered island 3,000 miles from Moscow, who gains the Arctic high ground?

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