Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Greenlanders could vote to join Russia if U.S. President Donald Trump did not move quickly to secure the Arctic island, Interfax reported on Monday.

Trump insists the U.S. must take control of Greenland to prevent Russia or China from doing the same — an argument Beijing dismissed Monday as "an excuse" to pursue territorial ambitions.

A remark by senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev has put Greenland back in global focus. It has added strain to an already tense Arctic debate. He suggested Greenland’s residents could vote to join Russia.

As the Earth warms, new shipping routes from one side of the globe to the other are opening around Greenland, making the vast island a strategic priority for superpowers.

Nordic diplomats rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's claims of Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

President Donald Trump continued his threats towards Greenland on Friday, as he insisted that if the United States did not act Russia or China would occupy it in the future.

Trump allies have cited the island's continued role in missile defense infrastructure, accusing Denmark of leaving it vulnerable to potential Russian and Chinese influence.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House.