'Fundamental disagreement' with US over Greenland remains

According to Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, "perspectives continues to differ" after a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the future of Greenland.

"We still have a fundamental disagreement," Rasmussen said in a joint presser with Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt after the talks in Washington.

"We didn't manage to manage to change the American position," Rasmussen said of President Donald Trump suggestion that the US should take control of Greenland.

He did however said they agreed to form a "high-level" working group with the US to explore if it is possible to find a "common way forward."

"The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark," Rasmussen told reporters.

It is "absolutely not necessary" for the US to seize Greenland, the Danish minister stressed.

Meanwhile, Motzfeldt said ⁠that she wanted ⁠to strengthen cooperation ‌with the ‌United ⁠States but that ‍Greenland did not want ​to ​be owned by the US.

Germany will send its first soldiers ⁠to ‍Greenland this week, with over a dozen reconnaissance ‍troops to be deployed to the island on Thursday, government spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.

The deployment was first reported by Bild, a German mass-circulation newspaper.

Earlier in the day, the Danish defense ministry announced that Denmark will increase its military presence in Greenland "from today... in close cooperation with NATO allies."

Later, Sweden and Norway announced that they would be sending military personnel to Greenland.

The leaders of the European Parliament groups expressed unequivocal support for Greenland and Denmark.

In a statement, they urged the EU executive and its member states to offer "concrete and tangible support" to Greenland and Denmark and condemned demands by the US to take over Greenland.

These demands "constitute a blatant challenge to international law, to the principles of the United Nations Charter and to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally," the leaders said.

They stressed that "the security of the Arctic is a strategic priority for the European Union, and we are firmly committed to safeguarding it."

"Decisions concerning Denmark and Greenland belong to Denmark and Greenland alone, in accordance with the relevant constitutional arrangements and agreements between Denmark and Greenland," the statement added.

It also recalled that, in 1916, the United States declared, through an agreement with Denmark, that Denmark had full sovereignty over Greenland.

Norway is sending military officers to Greenland, Defense ⁠Minister ‍Tore Sandvik said.

"Norway has ⁠decided to send two ‌staffers from ‌the ⁠Norwegian Armed Forces to map out the ‍further cooperation between (NATO) allies," ​Sandvik ​said in an emailed statement to the Reuters news agency.

He added that there was a dialogue within NATO on how to strengthen security in the Arctic, including in and around Greenland.

"No conclusions have been ‌made ‌yet," Sandvik said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sweden announced that it had sent officers to participate in a military exercise in Greenland at Denmark's request.

After concluding their discussions, US Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Danish-Greenlandic delegation led by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeld left the Eisenhower Building on the White House campus.

While US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were hosting Danish and Greenlandic government ministers for talks, the White House posted a picture suggesting the choice Greenland faces.

The image, seemingly created with AI, showed Greenland could choose between a future as part of the US or one where China and Russia are in control.

"Which way, Greenland man?" it asked.

On Tuesday, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said his country chose Denmark over the United States.

"We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark," Nielsen said.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that officers from his country will join a military exercise in Greenland after Denmark requested support. The move follows threats from US President Donald Trump to take control of the Danish autonomous territory.

"Some officers from the Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today. They are part of a group from several allied countries. Together, they will prepare events within the framework of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance," Kristersson wrote on X.

US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the White House to meet with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark.

The meeting is taking place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next to the West Wing. This building houses most of the offices for White House staff, as well as the vice president's main ceremonial office.

Donald Trump's stated desire to seize the Danish territory has provoked consternation both abroad and at home.

On Tuesday, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Trump's own Republican Party tabled a bill together with Democrat Jeanne Shaheen that would stop the US administration from annexing, occupying, or otherwise controlling the territory of a NATO ally without the consent of the partner nation.

The senators warned that any attempt to seize Greenland would be in breach of the NATO treaty, undermine solidarity within the military alliance and run counter to efforts to deal with threats from Russia and China.

"NATO remains the most successful defensive alliance in history, and its credibility rests on the shared understanding that member states' sovereignty will be respected and defended by one another," the senators said.

The odds of the bill passing the Senate and later the House of Representatives appear slim, however. Republicans have majorities in both chambers.

A similar bipartisan measure has also been introduced in the House of Representatives, supported by more than 20 lawmakers.

After the White House talks on Wednesday, a senior delegation from the US Congress, consisting mostly of Democrats but with one Republican, is set to visit Copenhagen in a show of solidarity.

"President Trump's continued threats toward Greenland are unnecessary and would only weaken our NATO alliance," said Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Senate Democrat.

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US President Donald Trump has said that the US "needs" the huge, resource-rich and strategically important Arctic island, which he says would otherwise be taken over by Russia or China, despite neither of those countries voicing any aim to do so.

Denmark will increase its military presence in Greenland "from today," the Danish defense ministry said Wednesday.

The move is in response to unspecified "geopolitical tensions" that have "spread to the Arctic," the ministry said in a statement.

"From today, there will be an expanded military presence in and around Greenland – in close cooperation with NATO allies," the ministry said, adding that the increased presence would help "strengthen the alliance’s footprint in the Arctic, benefiting both European and transatlantic security."

The statement explained that more aircraft, vessels and soldiers, from Denmark and from NATO allies, would be deployed to Greenland.

The deployment also foresees military exercises for this year, which could include guarding critical infrastructure, assisting local Greenland authorities such as the police, hosting allied troops, conducting naval operations and deploying fighter aircraft in the area, the statement said.

Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivan Motzfeldt, who will be attending the talks in Washington DC later on Wednesday, said, "It is a core priority for the Government of Greenland that defence and security in and around Greenland are strengthened, and that this is achieved in close cooperation with our NATO allies."

Danish Defense Minister Lund Poulsen, for his part, said: "Security in the Arctic is of crucial importance to the Kingdom of Denmark and our Arctic allies, and it is therefore important that we, in close cooperation with allies, further strengthen our ability to operate in the region."

"The Danish Armed Forces, together with a number of Arctic and European allies, will explore in the coming weeks how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be implemented in practice," Poulsen added.

The statement made no direct mention of the United States.

France has said it will be opening a consulate in Greenland next month.

The move is the latest indication of European opposition to Trump's designs on the Arctic territory.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the move had been planned last year in response to the threats by the US president.

He told RTL radio that the US should stop blackmailing Greenland with its threats.

"Attacking ‍another NATO member would make no sense, ​it would even be contrary to the interests of ⁠the ​United States ... and so this blackmail ‌must ‌obviously stop," Barrot said.

Germany, however, says it has no plans to follow suit by opening a consulate in Greenland, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.

"Professional consular services for ‍Greenland are provided by ​our ​embassy in Copenhagen and we are also currently represented by an honorary consul in ‍Greenland," the spokesperson explained.

US President Donald Trump insists Washington must secure Greenland, an Arctic island with just 57,000 residents, to prevent rivals China and Russia from doing so.

NATO, led by Secretary General Mark Rutte, pledges to safeguard the Arctic through collective action, possibly increasing patrols and ground deployments.

Meanwhile, most Greenlanders reject the idea of a US takeover.

US Vice President JD Vance is set to meet with Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in Washington on Wednesday as threats by the US president to seize Greenland continue to cause consternation in Europe and within the NATO alliance.

The talks, to be held at the White House with Vance in attendance, were requested by Rasmussen, who had sought to meet with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, saying he hoped to "clear up certain misunderstandings."

Ahead of the talks, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said: "One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States."

Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally of the US.

Vance in March paid an uninvited — and largely unwelcome — visit to Greenland but stayed only at Pituffik, the longstanding US base on the island, without meeting with any of the 57,000 local residents.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said NATO should help the US in acquiring Greenland.

Trump's remarks, which follow similar comments in recent weeks, came just hours before Vice President JD Vance was set to host the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland for talks on the issue.

Denmark, along with the US, is a member of the NATO alliance.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump again said the US "needs Greenland for the purpose of national security."

The US president has repeatedly said Greenland and the Arctic waters around it are at risk from Chinese and Russian ships. He has failed to provide any evidence for these claims.

"NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" Trump said.

The US leader also falsely claimed that much of the "vast power" of the US military had been built during his first term. The US has had the world's most dominant military by some distance since the Cold War era.

"NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES," Trump continued, adding that, "Anything less than that is unacceptable."

Trump's claims and insistence that he will take over Greenland "one way or the other" has caused a widening rift with the US' allies in Europe, who have roundly backed Denmark in this dispute.

Denmark as well as Greenland officials have said only the local population should decide its future.

Greenlanders have also strongly rejected the notion of them becoming part of the United States.