Talks between Denmark, Greenland and the US have failed to bring about a shift in Washington’s position on the strategically vital Arctic island – an autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has vowed to bring under US control, by force if necessary.
According to multiple media reports, a Wednesday meeting in Washington between Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark, his Greenland counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the US, and Vice President JD Vance, ended without progress.
“It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Rasmussen said after the meeting, referring to a “fundamental disagreement” with the US. However, he said that the parties agreed to establish a working group “to focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
The spectre of the US invading, annexing or simply claiming the territory of a NATO ally has caused alarm in Europe. Last week Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pointed out that a US invasion would spell the death of NATO.
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish media, “including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of World War II.”
[See more: Denmark says its forces will fire on any invaders of Greenland, including US troops]
Motzfeldt meanwhile said Greenland was willing to strategically cooperate with Washington without being “owned by the United States.”
Trump’s contention is that total sovereignty over Greenland is vital for US defence at a time when melting Arctic ice looks set to dramatically increase international shipping activity in the region, with Washington and Moscow vying for dominance. Greenland also holds significant reserves of rare earths – commonly used in military technology. Control of them could reduce Washington’s dependence on geopolitical rival China, the world’s largest producer of the vital minerals.
Denmark and Greenland counter that the US is already allowed to station its troops on Greenland under an existing defence treaty, and say that Washington has long been welcome to invest in rare earth mining on the island.
Trump however appears unmoved by such arguments and has been stepping up the rhetoric, saying he wants the United States to “get” Greenland “sooner rather than later.” He has also said the U.S. will obtain Greenland “one way or the other” and that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable.”
