Washington DC [US], January 11 : US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expects to hold talks with Danish officials next week about Greenland, as European governments respond to renewed pressure from the Trump administration over the Arctic island's future. Greenland is a self-governing territory under Danish sovereignty, reported The New York Times.
Rubio's remarks to reporters on Wednesday followed a revival of President Donald Trump's long-standing interest in acquiring Greenland, a push that appears to have gained momentum after a recent U.S. operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of former president Nicolas Maduro.
Earlier this week, Rubio told members of Congress that Trump's preference is to purchase Greenland rather than seize it by force. However, Vice President JD Vance declined to dismiss military action during a Fox News interview on Wednesday. When asked how far the United States might go, Vance said the president was "willing to go as far as he has to" to "defend American interests", as reported by The New York Times.
Vance also repeated Trump's argument that Greenland is critical to U.S. national security and claimed Denmark is not doing enough to safeguard the territory. In response, European leaders issued a joint statement on Tuesday underscoring that Arctic security must be based on respect for the United Nations Charter, including national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of borders, as per the New York Times.
Greenland's foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, said on Facebook that the governments of Greenland and Denmark had requested an urgent meeting with Rubio due to "increasingly outspoken statements regarding Greenland." She added that an earlier request for talks had received no response and emphasized that "it is important that all parties involved are given the opportunity to express their views directly and openly,"
Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's minister for business and natural resources, told DealBook that U.S. pressure had pushed the territory toward what she called "a point of no return."
Denmark's foreign ministry said it was unable to immediately confirm whether a meeting with Rubio had been scheduled.
Greenland is lightly populated and governs itself in many areas, but it remains within the Kingdom of Denmark, which is a NATO member.
Trump first floated the idea of buying Greenland publicly in 2019 during his first presidency. After reelection in 2024, he suggested the United States could use force to acquire the island, as per the New York Times.
That rhetoric was followed by visits from senior administration officials. Tensions escalated further last month when Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland; Landry said he would work "to make Greenland a part of the U.S."
According to the New York Times, the administration's renewed stance has unsettled not only Danish and Greenlandic leaders but also European leaders in the NATO alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that any U.S. military action against Greenland would effectively dismantle NATO. She also noted that a purchase appears unlikely, as Denmark lacks the legal authority to sell the territory, and Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has consistently rejected the idea, reiterating that their "country is not for sale."
Although a Cold War-era agreement already allows the United States significant freedom to expand its military presence in Greenland, no formal request to do so has been made, according to Jens Adser Sørensen, a former senior official in Denmark's parliament.
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