Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of Nato, warned Europe on Monday that it could not defend itself without the US in remarks aimed to address the growing worries that the US and Europe are pulling apart over President Donald Trump’s ambitions for Greenland.

“If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming,” Rutte told members of the European Parliament in Brussels. “You can’t. We can’t. We need each other.”

Rutte’s remarks followed days of anxiety that crested last week after Trump said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he would not seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, backing off earlier threats. Trump used the same speech to belittle Europe, essentially saying that it would not exist without America.

Rutte, a former Dutch Prime Minister, has cultivated a chummy relationship with Trump, and that has raised some eyebrows in Europe. On Monday, Rutte backed up the American President’s strategic vision for the Arctic and a stronger defence of Greenland.

Denmark’s and Greenland’s leaders have bristled at the notion that Trump and Rutte might be negotiating Greenland’s future behind their backs.

“Of course, I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn’t, and I will not,” he said. “That’s up to Denmark to do.”

Rutte said that there were “two work streams going forward” that involved Greenland.

One was talks between Nato allies over a broader Arctic defence plan that would involve Greenland, a gigantic island that lies mostly in the Arctic Circle.

The other was a process involving representatives from the US, Denmark and Greenland that started earlier this month in Washington and is continuing, Rutte said. Danish officials said that they held a meeting on Thursday in Washington about Greenland, but they declined to share any details.

Rutte repeated Trump’s insistence that China and Russia were becoming a threat to Arctic security.

“President Trump is doing a lot of good stuff, I believe — I know, I’m irritating a lot of you again,” Rutte said.

Rutte said that when it came to Arctic defence, “I think he’s right.”

Ukraine strikes

Russian missiles and drones hammered two Ukrainian cities overnight, officials said on Tuesday, killing at least two and wounding 23 in the Black Sea hub of Odesa and knocking out power in much of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

New York Times News Service