A high-level meeting at the White House complex on Wednesday yielded no breakthrough on the standoff between President Donald Trump and Denmark’s government over Greenland, as several Nato countries announced plans to send troops to the frigid Danish territory and Trump reiterated his view that anything less than full US control of the island was "unacceptable".
Speaking to reporters after the sit-down with Vice-President J.D. Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio, Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said that a “fundamental disagreement” remained with Trump, who says that America must rule Greenland to protect it from China and Russia.
“We didn’t manage to change the American position,” Rasmussen said. “It’s clear that the President has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
An escalation in the crisis may have been averted, for now, by what Rasmussen called an agreement between the sides to form a “working group” on the matter, which he said would convene in the coming weeks.
Early Wednesday morning, Trump posted on social media that the US "needs Greenland for the purpose of national security", adding: “Anything less than that is unacceptable.” Trump has said he might use military force to acquire the island.
Rasmussen, in turn, said on Wednesday that American ownership is “absolutely not necessary” to ensure Greenland’s defence.
Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark.
Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.
New York Times News Service and AP