According to the Danish side, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the latest statements by US officials on Greenland. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt requested the urgent meeting on January 6. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to the proposal the following day. Vice President JD Vance also attended the meeting.
According to AP News, Rasmussen and Motzfeldt left the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is part of the White House, about an hour after the talks began. Both ministers were later scheduled to move to Capitol Hill, where further talks await them.
After the talks, the Danish foreign minister said that they had had an "open but constructive discussion" with US officials about Greenland.
Motzfeldt said she wanted to strengthen cooperation with the United States, but that Greenland did not want to be owned by the US.
NATO presence on the island
Shortly before the start of the Danish-American talks, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that Copenhagen is negotiating with its allies on new activities and an increased military presence in the Arctic region in 2026.
"We will continue to strengthen our military presence in Greenland. At the same time, however, we will focus even more within NATO on more exercises and an increased NATO presence in the Arctic," Poulsen said.
The number of NATO troops to be added to the island has not yet been disclosed, but in addition to them, there should be several warships, air support, submarines, and anti-drone weapons.
During the negotiations, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on social media that several Swedish army officers had arrived in Greenland and that they were part of an international group.
"Together, they will prepare for the upcoming phases of the Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance. At Denmark's request, Sweden is sending members of its armed forces to Greenland," Kristersson explained.
Other European countries are also sending soldiers to the island
On Wednesday, European Parliament leaders called on the EU executive and member states to provide "concrete and tangible support" to Greenland and Denmark, condemning US demands to take control of Greenland.
"The Trump administration's statements on Greenland represent a flagrant challenge to international law, the principles of the UN Charter, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally," the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament said in a joint statement.
"The security of the Arctic is a strategic priority for the European Union, and we are firmly committed to protecting it," they added.
The German daily Bild reported that Germany will send its first soldiers to Greenland later this week. As confirmed by several sources in Germany and Scandinavia, an advance guard consisting of several members of the Bundeswehr is expected to be sent first.
A German government spokesman confirmed to Reuters that Berlin will send its first soldiers to Greenland on Thursday. He specified that more than a dozen reconnaissance soldiers will be deployed.
According to information from Defense Minister Tore Sandvik, Norway is sending two members of the armed forces to Greenland. "Norway has decided to send two members of the Norwegian armed forces to map out further cooperation between allies within NATO," Sandvik said in a written statement to Reuters.
He added that there is an ongoing dialogue within NATO on how to strengthen security in the Arctic, including Greenland and its surroundings. "No conclusions have been reached yet," he said.
Paper allies
It should be noted that Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt recently proposed that Greenland negotiate with the US separately, without a delegation from mainland Denmark. On January 13, however, she stated that Greenland wants to remain as we know it today, "as part of the Kingdom of Denmark."
A few days later, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen declared that if the people of Greenland had to choose between Denmark and the United States "here and now," they would choose the European kingdom.
His position resonated on the Danish mainland and in Washington. "I disagree with him. I don't know who he is. I don't know anything about him. But it will be a big problem for him," said US President Donald Trump.
A few hours before the meeting between the American and Danish delegations, the White House chief added that anything less than Greenland "in the hands" of the United States is "unacceptable." At the same time, he called on the North Atlantic Alliance to take the lead in the process of "acquiring" Greenland. He claims that NATO would be significantly stronger and more effective if the island's territory were "in the hands of the United States."
According to Trump, the United States "needs Greenland for national security reasons." He believes that NATO should make an effort to acquire the island for the US because "if we don't do it, Russia or China will—and that won't happen," the US president wrote on his Truth Social network.
In response to Trump's status, the White House shared an image on the X network with the caption: "Which way, Greenland?"
Americans are already in Greenland
After several months of dormancy, last year's topic of American interest in Greenland has returned to the negotiating tables of statesmen and the media, which are working out possible scenarios for the occupation of the Danish island. In addition to its strategic location, the island also enjoys mineral wealth, most of which has not yet been mined due to difficult conditions.
Thereare deposits of many minerals, including those critical to the production of modern technologies. Among other things, Greenland holds up to ten percent of the world's reserves of rare earths, gold, diamonds, uranium, tungsten, iron ore, nickel, copper, oil, gas, and high-quality graphite.
However, the downside of their potential extraction would be a catastrophic impact on the environment, as seen in Chinese "colonies." On January 9, Denmark admitted that it had long neglected the defense of its island.
A few days earlier, however, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reminded social media users that "there is a defense agreement between the kingdom and the US that gives the United States broad access to Greenland." The prime minister was referring, for example, to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was established in 1943 and falls under the US Space Force.
However, in February 2025, Denmark's highest elected representative expressed her support for expanding the presence of US armed forces on the island. In June of the same year, the Danish parliament finally approved the new wording of the Danish-American agreement by a large majority.
Among other things, this agreement established autonomous legal jurisdiction for the US military in Greenland, which US troops also enjoy in Slovakia under the US-Slovak agreement of 2022. However, despite the defense agreement, the United States does not, understandably, have access to mineral resources.
(reuters, hal, luc)