Foreign Ministers from Denmark and Greenland held “constructive” talks with the US administration on Wednesday but failed to change its position of wanting to take control of the vast Arctic island.
Denmark's Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland's Vivian Motzfeldt had requested a meeting in Washington to try to de-escalate a geopolitical crisis caused by US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to seize Greenland from its Nato ally.
“For us, ideas that would not respect the territorial integrity of the kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable,” Mr Rasmussen said after meeting Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House. "And we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement but we also agree to disagree.
“We didn't manage to change the American position. It's clear that the President has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”
Mr Trump earlier on Wednesday said anything other than a US takeover of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of the Danish realm, would be “unacceptable”.
“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,” he wrote on Truth Social, claiming the world's largest island is vital for America's planned Golden Dome missile defence system. He again said that Russia or China would try to take control of Greenland if the US did not.
Neither country has directly threatened to do so and Mr Rasmussen said “there's not an instant threat from China and Russia".
Ms Motzfeldt said it was important to strengthen Greenland's co-operation with the US, “but that doesn't mean that we want to be owned by the United States".
Mr Rasmussen said the parties would form a “high-level working group to explore if we can find a common way forward".
The group “should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the kingdom of Denmark", he said.
In another post referring to China and Russia, Mr Trump wrote: “Nato: Tell Denmark to get them out of here, now. Two dogsleds won’t do it. Only the USA can.”
Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly said the island is not for sale and warned that US annexation of the territory could mean the end of Nato. The western military alliance is already responsible for defending Greenland, so a US move would essentially amount to an intra-Nato assault.
The White House has refused to rule out using military force to seize the mineral-rich island.
Before Wednesday's meeting at the White House, Greenland and Denmark said they had begun increasing military presence in and around Greenland in close co-operation with Nato allies.
The Danish Defence Ministry said a range of joint military drills would be conducted throughout the year as part of the preparation.
Germany will send 13 soldiers to Greenland on Thursday as part of a reconnaissance mission with other European nations, the German government and Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
US citizens oppose annexation
Greenlandic leaders appear to be shifting their approach in handling the diplomatic situation. They had been promoting the island's path to independence but now their public statements put more emphasis on unity with Denmark.
“It's not the time to gamble with our right to self-determination, when another country is talking about taking us over,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told the island's daily Sermitsiaq newspaper published on Wednesday.
“That doesn't mean that we don't want something in the future. But here and now we are part of the kingdom and we stand with the kingdom. That's crucial in this serious situation.”
Most Americans oppose annexation of the Arctic island, a poll has found. Only 17 per cent of US citizens surveyed approve of Mr Trump's efforts to acquire Greenland, and substantial majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Meanwhile, European allies reiterated their backing for Denmark and Greenland before the White House meeting, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying on Wednesday that Greenlanders could “count on us”.
