A top Russian official on Tuesday warned the Trump administration against taking over the Panama Canal after the president stated in his inaugural address that he intended to regain control of the strategic waterway.
Since the election, President Donald Trump has mentioned on several occasions that the United States should reassert control over the canal, which was built by Americans and controlled by the U.S. government until the Carter administration. Panama’s president has said that his government will not give up control of the canal.
As Jack Phillips reports for The Epoch Times, Trump’s comments prompted a response from Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin American department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said that Moscow expects the leadership of Panama and the Trump administration to respect the “current international legal regime of this key waterway” during any discussions about control of the Panama Canal, according to a translation of comments reported by Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.
“Russia has been a party to the protocol since 1988 and reaffirms its obligations to respect the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal, advocating for keeping this international transit waterway safe and open,” Shchetinin said, adding that the canal legally belongs to Panama.
The Panama Canal links the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and is considered one of the most important trade routes in the world. About 40 percent of U.S. container ships pass through the waterway, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The U.S. government built the canal in the early part of the 20th century, starting under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, after it took over construction in 1904. Under President Jimmy Carter, negotiations started on handing over the waterway to the Panamanian government by the end of the 20th century.
Trump has said that Chinese entities are operating the canal, which he said is unacceptable. In his inauguration speech at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, Trump again spoke about the canal.
“American ships are being severely overcharged ... and above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” he said.
Responding to Trump’s earlier comments, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, in a video released on social media in December 2024, rejected arguments that the United States could reassert control over the canal.
“As president, I want to clearly state that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining zone is Panama’s and will remain so,” Mulino said at the time. “The sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable.”
Trump has also suggested that the United States could take control over Greenland, the world’s largest island located in the North Atlantic that is currently part of Denmark’s territory.
Speaking to reporters on Monday as he signed executive orders in the White House, the president said he believes Denmark will “come along” on the possible sale of Greenland to the United States.
“Greenland is a wonderful place. We need fair, international security, and I am sure that Denmark will come along, I think. It’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he said.