Danish PM: Dialogue with the US is fruitless, Washington insists on wanting Greenland

Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen/European Union PHOTO

JAKARTA - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that talks between the foreign ministers of Denmark, Greenland, and the United States were intense because Washington remained adamant about wanting to control Greenland, which is an autonomous region of Denmark.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen earlier said that he and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt failed to convince the US not to annex Greenland when they met with US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

"Yesterday, I received news about a meeting between representatives of Greenland, Denmark, and the United States ... the talks were intense, but I still expressed my gratitude to the two ministers who explained the position of the Kingdom of Denmark and dispelled the US suspicions. This is very important," Frederiksen said on Thursday, January 15, as quoted by TV2 Denmark, reported by RIA Novosti.

Frederiksen said there was still disagreement given that the US insisted on maintaining its plan to dominate Greenland.

Therefore, the Danish Prime Minister stressed that his party would continue to work to prevent the US from annexing their territory. The Danish government will present the latest developments to the parliament on Friday, he said.

Although he failed to convince the US not to take over Greenland, Rasmussen said the US and Denmark agreed to form a high-level working group to "seek a common solution in the future".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Greenland should be a US territory on the basis of its strategic position for national security as well as the pretext of defending the "free world" from China and Russia.

Danish and Greenlandic authorities have insisted that the US should not annex Greenland and have asked the US to respect its territorial integrity.

Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, and the territory was granted extensive autonomy in 2009 that included the authority to govern and determine domestic policy independently.