Duma Defense Committee Member Wants Russia to have Military Base in Svalbard and Control of Portions of Greenland

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 13 – Andrey Gurulyev, a United Russia member of the Duma’s defense committee and former Russian general in Ukraine and Syria, has called for Moscow to establish a military base on Svalbard (Spitzbergen) and to seize portions of Greenland to prevent the US from using either against Moscow.
    He made those remarks on the Moscow TV talk show, “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov,” and he is far from being judicious: Gurulyev earlier called for nuking part of Europe. In reporting his latest outburst, The Barents Observer described him as “a halfwit lawmaker” (thebarentsobserver.com/news/halfwit-lawmaker-says-russia-should-establish-bases-on-svalbard/423172).
    But Gurulyov’s words should not be entirely ignored as they reflect a prominent trend among the most nationalist elements of the ruling party of the Russian Federation and suggest that if Putin were to move in either of the directions the deputy has now proposed, the Kremlin leader would enjoy significant support at home.