Greenland's prime minister has said his country would rather remain part of Denmark than become a territory of the United States, as President Donald Trump steps up pressure to take control of the Arctic island.
The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers will meet in Washington on Wednesday with US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after Trump recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Reuters reports.
However, Greenland is not for sale and does not want to join the US, the island's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at a press conference in Copenhagen, alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
"We are facing a geopolitical crisis and if we had to choose between the US and Denmark here and now, we would choose Denmark," Nilsen said. "We are united in the Kingdom of Denmark."
Although Denmark has ruled Greenland for centuries, the territory has been gradually moving towards independence since 1979, a goal shared by all political parties elected to the island's parliament.
Trump said that Greenland is crucial to US security and that the United States must own it to prevent Russia or China from seizing the strategically located and mineral-rich territory in the future.
White House officials have discussed various plans to bring Greenland under American control, including the possible use of the US military and one-time cash payments to Greenlanders as part of an effort to persuade them to secede from Denmark.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motsfeld requested a meeting with Rubio following Trump's threats.
"US Vice President J.D. Vance also wanted to participate in the meeting and he will be the host, so the meeting will therefore be held at the White House," Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen.
"The reason we requested the meeting that we have now been granted was to move this entire discussion... into a conference room, where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things," he added.
The Danish Prime Minister said it was difficult to stand up to the United States, a NATO ally and the country's most important ally for many decades.
"But there are many indications that the hardest part is yet to come," Frederiksen said.
Trump first floated the idea of a US takeover of Greenland in 2019, during his first term, although he faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced that he will participate in a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday next week, where Arctic security will be discussed, together with Motsfeld.
Denmark is planning a larger military presence in Greenland, with other NATO countries participating in exercises and training during 2026, the defense minister said.
"The Danish priority for the last few years has been to start a discussion within NATO, but not least to get more attention from NATO when it comes to issues of NATO's presence in and around the Arctic," said Poulsen.
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