Official relations were established on November 8, 1493, when a union Treaty of Love and Brotherhood between the Danish Kingdom and the United Moscow Dutchy was signed in Copenhagen. In connection with the 500th anniversary of the treaty, it was succeeded by the Declaration of Basic Relations signed in November 1993.
Permanent missions were established in 1700.
Russian-Danish relations grew stronger in the 19th century after the Russian crown prince Alexander (later emperor Alexander III) married Princess Dagmar, daughter of Christian IX, king of Denmark, who later adopted the name Maria Fyodorovna.
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, bilateral relations came to a halt, and resumed in 1923 with the signing of a trade agreement. Diplomatic relations were restored on June 18, 1924. The first-ever society of Russia’s friends was established in 1924 and is still active today.
Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany in April 1940 and broke off diplomatic relations with the USSR on June 22, 1941, when Germany attacked the USSR. Relations were restored on May 16, 1945. In 1956, Danish Prime Minister Hansen was among the first post-war Western leaders to visit Moscow. In 1975, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was the first Western monarch to visit the USSR.
On December 23, 1991, Denmark, alongside other EU countries, recognized Russia as a sovereign state and successor to the USSR.
The first state visit to Denmark by the Russian president in the history of Danish-Russian relations took place on April 27-28, 2010.
On November 2, 2009, Prime Minister Putin held negotiations with the Danish prime minister. On February 10, 2010, Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Lars Løkke Rasmussen during the Baltic Sea summit in Helsinki. On March 22, 2010, heads of states met in St Petersburg in connection with the opening of the direct Ecuador – St Petersburg cargo line by A.P. Moller-Maersk.
Members of Danish royal family have visited Russia on many occasions.
Russia and Denmark's bilateral relationship is founded on a developed contractual basis covering a wide range of relations.
Relations with Russia’s regions are an important element of the bilateral relations. Copenhagen sees its relations with the Kaliningrad and Pskov Regions, St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, and the Krasnodar Territory as a very important. A Danish consulate opened in Kaliningrad in 1998. Between 2005-2010, a Russian-Danish Programme for promoting economic development of the Kaliningrad and Pskov Regions was implemented. Other regions in Russia are joining these bilateral relations.
The ceremonial transfer of ashes of the Empress Maria Fyodorovna, born Danish Princess Dagmar, which was timed to coincide with the 140th anniversary of Maria Fyodorovna’s arrival in Russia, was held on September 22-28, 2006.