Any European troop deployment to the Arctic over the "imaginary" Russian and Chinese threats would be merely symbolic, Greg Simons has told RT

Europe is too weak to stand up to US President Donald Trump's ambitions to bring Greenland under American control, journalism professor Greg Simons has said.

Trump stated last week that the US must annex Greenland - a Danish self-governing island - to contain Russia and China, claiming the two countries would "take over" the island unless Washington acted first. Several media outlets have since reported that the UK, France and other European states are discussing plans to send ground forces to Greenland to signal that they take Arctic security seriously.

Speaking to RT on Tuesday, Simons, who teaches at Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said European governments lack the strength and will to resist Trump.

"A jellyfish has more spine than these Europeans and the EU at this stage," he argued, calling their stance "hypocritical." 

Commenting on the reports of a potential deployment, Simons said such a move would be largely symbolic. Any European troop presence in Greenland or the wider Arctic would amount to "a token number of troops" facing an "imaginary threat of Chinese and Russian destroyers and submarines," he argued, adding that even Denmark had acknowledged there were no such vessels in the area.

Rather than reflecting strategic autonomy, the idea shows Europe trying to placate Washington, Simons believes. "It's an attempt to try and appease Trump," he said, adding that the message to the US president would be: "See, we're helping you, so there is no need to annex."

He argued that "de-industrialized Europe" is "gutted" and has "very pathetically sized armies which are nothing to speak of," leaving it unable to compete with the US for control of Greenland or the wider Arctic.

READ MORE: Denmark pushes back against US Greenland annexation bill

Denmark has insisted that Greenland is not for sale and that the island's future must be decided by its residents, who voted in 2008 to retain self-governing status within the Danish realm.

Beijing has criticized Washington for using Russia and China as "pretexts" for a deeper push into the Arctic. Moscow has yet to officially respond to Trump's latest remarks, but it has previously stressed that Greenland's future must be determined by its citizens and dismissed claims that Russia poses a threat.