- Rubio
plans Danish talks next week on Greenland. - Tensions
rise over US military option threats. - Danish
PM warns takeover ends NATO alliance.
Denmark’s and Greenland’s foreign ministers had demanded an
immediate meeting, claiming that any NATO member’s invasion or occupation of
the area would be the end of “post-second world war security” and the
western military alliance.
Rubio, asked whether he would rule out military intervention
in Greenland, told reporters in Washington:
“If the president identifies a threat to the national
security of the United States, every president retains the option to address it
through military means.
As a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work
on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways. That included in
Venezuela.”
He added:
“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military
intervention. I’m going to meet them next week.”
France said on Tuesday that it was working with partners to
prepare a response in case the United States invaded Greenland. French Foreign
Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the subject will be discussed at a meeting with
the foreign ministers of Poland and Germany on Wednesday.
Trump claimed that the United States will not leave NATO in
a backhanded social media statement condemning the alliance on Wednesday.
“We will always be there for Nato, even if they won’t be
there for us,” he wrote on Truth Social. Russia and China would “have zero
fear” of Nato without the US, he said. Addressing “all of those big Nato fans”,
he added:
“They were at 2% GDP, and most weren’t paying their
bills, UNTIL I CAME ALONG.”
European countries rallied around Denmark and Greenland
after one of Trump’s top aides said on Tuesday that the US might be prepared to
take over the Arctic territory by force. They issued a rare rebuke to the White
House, stating that Greenland “belongs to its people.”
In spite of this, the White House stated on Tuesday night
that Trump and his staff were considering “a range of options” to
obtain Greenland, including the deployment of the US military, which it claimed
was “always an option.”
However, Barrot said that Rubio had informed him over the
phone on Tuesday that he had “ruled out the possibility of an
invasion” of Greenland.
“I myself was on the phone yesterday with US secretary of
state, Marco Rubio … who confirmed that this was not the approach taken,”
he said.
Trump has expressed his desire to buy Greenland for a long
time. However, the Trump administration’s rhetoric has reached previously
unheard-of heights following the US military intervention in Venezuela on
Saturday that led to the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro, the nation’s president,
raising questions about NATO’s continuing existence.
The Danish parliament held an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday
night to consider the unusual matter.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the foreign minister of Denmark, and
Vivian Motzfeldt, the foreign minister of Greenland, declared that they wanted
to meet with Rubio right away to discuss Greenland.
Denmark is unable to defend Greenland, which the president
has declared is crucial to US national security, since it is “full of
Chinese and Russian ships,” according to Trump.
“The image that is being painted of Russian and Chinese
ships right inside the Nuuk fjord and massive Chinese investments being made is
not correct,”
he said.
The situation, Rasmussen said, was “based on a misreading of
what is up and what is down”, adding:
“We are looking after the kingdom.”
Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, disputed US
claims that the country was not doing enough to protect Greenland.
“We have invested close to 100bn [Danish kroner]
(£11.6bn) in security capabilities,”
he said.
How could talks affect NATO posture in the Arctic region?
US- Danish addresses on Greenland could reshape NATO’s
Arctic posture by clarifying alliance commitments to territorial sovereignty
while potentially securing enhanced US grounding rights without outright
accession.
Successful accommodations might yield Danish concessions
like expanded Thule Air Base operations or common details, bolstering NATO’s
high- north deterrence against Russian Northern Fleet submarines and Chinese
exploration vessels realigning Joint Force Commands Norfolk and Brunssum for
flawless content post- Finland/ Sweden accession.
Failure pitfalls Danish exit from NATO grounding agreements,
fracturing concinnity as France/ Germany/ UK affirm Greenland’s tone-
determination; Russia could exploit divisions via Kola Peninsula advances,
while China accelerates” Polar Silk Road” structure, weakening GIUK
gap control critical for Atlantic mounts.
