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The US, Denmark and Greenland will form a high-level group to discuss the future of the vast Arctic island, but “fundamental disagreements” remain between the two sides, according to Denmark’s foreign minister.
Lars Locke Rasmussen said he and Greenland colleague Vivian Motzfeldt held a “candid but constructive” discussion for more than an hour with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday.
But he said US President Donald Trump’s insistence on “conquering” Greenland was “completely unacceptable”.
The talks were the first formal meeting between the US, Denmark and Greenland since Trump initially floated the idea of ​​buying the world’s largest island in 2019.
But they failed to bring a diplomatic breakthrough, with Rasmussen saying that Denmark and Greenland had “red lines” they could not cross, although they were willing to give Washington the opportunity to open more bases on the Arctic island.
He said the high-level working group would hold its first meeting within a few weeks and try to find a compromise between the two positions. “I’m glad that even though we don’t agree on whether it’s possible, it’s useful to start a discussion at a higher level,” Rasmussen said.
The meeting came as Denmark and several NATO allies, including Sweden and Norway, sent troops and equipment to Greenland to help boost Arctic security. Germany said it would send 13 reconnaissance troops to Greenland on Thursday while France said it would also participate, without giving details.
Rasmussen said there was “an element of truth” in Trump’s comments on the need to increase Arctic defense in the face of growing Russian and Chinese interest in the polar region.
But he dismissed Trump’s comments about the presence of Chinese and Russian warships around Greenland as “not true”, saying it has been at least a decade since a Chinese ship was present according to Danish intelligence.
Before the meeting, the US President reiterated his desire to hand over control of Greenland from Copenhagen to him. He wrote, “NATO must show us the way to achieve this… NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the United States. Anything less is unacceptable.” True social.
Trump said later Wednesday that he had not been briefed about the talks with Danish and Greenlandic officials and said the US has a “very good” relationship with Denmark.
But he reiterated his desire to obtain the island. “If Russia or China want to take over Greenland, there is nothing Denmark can do about it,” he said. “I cannot trust that Denmark will be able to defend itself.”
Washington operates a single military base in Greenland but had 17 during the Cold War. During the same period, he has also reduced the number of his soldiers from 10,000 to about 150. Rasmussen said the previous US administration had hindered efforts to promote Arctic security in NATO.
Rasmussen said Denmark is increasing investment in fighter planes, ships and drones to help boost Greenland’s security. In October Copenhagen announced it would spend $4.2 billion on two new military units, a Joint Arctic Command headquarters in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, two ships, maritime patrol aircraft, drones and radar units.
Denmark and Greenland said Wednesday that an increased military presence on the islands this year will include aircraft, ships and troops, including from NATO allies. He said military exercises in 2026 could include protecting critical infrastructure, providing support to local authorities, receiving allied troops and deploying combat aircraft and ships around the region.
Copenhagen has received strong messages of support from most of NATO’s European members after its Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a US invasion of Greenland would mean the end of the Western military alliance.
Additional reporting by Amy MacKinnon
