The Kremlin said Thursday that it is closely monitoring President-elect Donald Trump’s ongoing persecution of Greenland.

Earlier this week, Trump said he would not rule out using military force to conquer the strategic Arctic island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, because it was in the U.S. economic and national interest.

Trump’s comments drew some support from pro-Kremlin figures in Russia. Some close to President Vladimir Putin said any U.S. push to claim Greenland would legitimize Russia’s own expansionist goals and ambitions to reclaim former Soviet territories like the Baltics into its own sphere of influence and power.

European leaders have warned President-elect Trump against seizing Greenland, saying such a move would violate international borders, while Denmark and Greenland have said the island, where the US has a military base, is “not for sale.” be.

Press spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke publicly on the matter for the first time on Thursday, saying Russia was closely monitoring the situation.

“Such claims are probably more a matter of bilateral relations between the United States and Denmark,” Peskov told reporters on Thursday, according to comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass and translated by Google.

“We are closely monitoring this rather dramatic development of the situation, but so far, thank God, the situation remains at the level of statements,” Peskov said.