A senior Danish official said on Wednesday that there were “fundamental differences” on the issue. Greenland still with president donald trump after highly anticipated White House talks with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
However, as Trump continued his calls, the two countries agreed to set up a working group to discuss ways to resolve their differences US takes over semi-autonomous territory of NATO allies Denmark.
“We believe that the organization should focus on how to address the security concerns of the United States while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lok Rasmussen told reporters after attending the talks with his Greenland counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt. He added, “It is clear that the president has a desire to conquer Greenland.”
Trump sought to make the case that NATO should help the United States acquire the world’s largest island, saying any island not under U.S. control was unacceptable.
DenmarkMeanwhile, Trump has announced plans to bolster the country’s military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as he seeks to justify his demand for the U.S. to take over the vast territory, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals, by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own plans for Greenland.
The president did not attend Wednesday’s meeting. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after the meeting, he reiterated his commitment to acquiring the territory.
“We need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. He added: “We’ll see how this all plays out. I think something will work out.”
Before the meeting, Trump said on social media that “NATO should take the lead” in allowing the United States to acquire the territory.
“With Greenland in U.S. hands, NATO becomes even stronger and more effective,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has sought to distance himself from the dispute between his most important country and other members of the 32-nation alliance, which has been unnerved by Trump’s aggressive tactics against Denmark.
Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt expressed hope that the talks would start a dialogue that would lead to Trump abandoning his demands for the territory and open the way for closer cooperation with the United States.
“We’ve shown where our limits are and from there, I think it’s going to be really good going forward,” Motzfeldt said.
Denmark steps up presence in Arctic
In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced an increase in Denmark’s “military presence and exercise activities” in the Arctic and North Atlantic “in close cooperation with our allies.”
Poulsen said the enhanced military presence was necessary in a security environment where “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”
“This means that starting today and for some time to come, there will be an increased presence of aircraft, ships and soldiers in and around Greenland, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.
He said other NATO allies arrived in Greenland along with Danish personnel. Poulsen declined to name other countries contributing to an increased Arctic presence, saying it was up to allies to announce their participation.
New security commitments, at least those made public by Greenland’s allies, appear modest.
Germany said it would send 13 personnel to Greenland this week “to explore the framework for a potential military contribution to the island”. Sweden announced on Wednesday that it would send an unknown number of personnel to Greenland for military exercises. Two Norwegian military personnel were also sent to Greenland to plan further cooperation with allies and the country’s Defense Minister Torre O Greenland. sandviktold VG newspaper.
A NATO official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said NATO was also looking at how members could work together to strengthen the alliance’s presence in the Arctic. The official added that there was consensus that “security in the High North is the top priority”.
Greenlanders want U.S. concessions
Greenland is strategically important because it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia as climate change causes ice to melt. This can also make it easier to pick up and transport untapped critical mineral deposits Both computers and mobile phones require these.
Trump says Greenland is also ‘vital’ to US Golden Summit Missile Defense Plan. He has also said he wants the island to expand U.S. security, and has repeatedly cited what he says are threats from Russian and Chinese ships as justification for taking control of the island.
“If we don’t join, Russia will join, China will join,” Trump argued again on Wednesday. “There’s nothing Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything.”
but Experts and Greenlanders question the claimhas become a hot topic on the snow-covered main streets of Greenland’s capital, where international journalists and camera crews have descended on the property as Trump continues his takeover talks.
“The only Chinese people I see are when I go to the fast food market,” said heating engineer Lars Vintner. He said he often goes out to sea and hunts and has never seen a Russian or Chinese ship.
Greenlanders said in interviews that the outcome of the Washington talks did not entirely indicate confidence in persuading Trump.
“Trump is unpredictable,” said Geng Lastein, who immigrated to Greenland from the Philippines 18 years ago.
Maya Martinsen, 21, said she doesn’t believe Trump’s argument that Greenland needs to be controlled by the United States to maintain the Arctic’s security advantage over China and Russia. Instead, Martinson said, Trump is after “the vast untouched oil and mineral wealth that we have.”
Greenland “has beautiful nature and lovely people,” Martinson added. “This is just my home. I think Americans just see some kind of commercial trade.”
Denmark said the United States, which already has a military presence, could strengthen its bases in Greenland. The United States is a party to the 1951 treaty, which gives it broad rights to establish military bases in Denmark and Greenland with their consent.
Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, plan to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus later Wednesday. A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen this week to meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Rasmussen and Motzfeldt both said that while they remain at loggerheads with Trump, maintaining dialogue is still crucial.
“While we disagree, we agree that it is in everyone’s interest to try to explore whether some of the concerns can be addressed while respecting the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the self-determination of the people of Greenland,” Rasmussen said.
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Burrows reported from Nuuk, Greenland, and Chobanoo reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lisa Mascaro, Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert in Washington and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.