Danish PM Mette Frederiksen visits Greenland for security talks after Trump backs down from threats to seize the Arctic territory.
NUUK: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Greenland’s capital for talks with the territory’s leader on Friday.
The visit follows a turbulent week where US President Donald Trump backed down from threats to seize the Arctic island and agreed to negotiations.
“I’m here to show the strong support Danes have for Greenlanders,” Frederiksen told reporters.
She described it as a “very difficult time” and said they were preparing a “diplomatic response”.
Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed on a “framework” on Wednesday, with the US leader withdrawing threats of military action and tariffs.
Trump claimed the United States “gets everything we wanted” in the plan, which would be in force “forever”.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said there was no detailed plan, only a “framework for a future agreement”.
He stated Trump now wishes to negotiate a solution “instead of those drastic ideas about needing to own Greenland”.
Denmark has rejected Trump’s claims that the US must take control because China and Russia seek a foothold.
Copenhagen has vowed to beef up its military presence on the island instead.
A source familiar with the talks said the US and Denmark would renegotiate a 1951 defence pact on Greenland.
That agreement, updated in 2004, already allows Washington to increase troop deployments with prior notice.
Frederiksen held separate talks with Rutte in Brussels on Friday.
They agreed “to enhance deterrence and defence in the Arctic,” Rutte wrote on social media.
In Nuuk, Frederiksen was greeted with a hug from Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Lokke said negotiations on the framework would start soon, focusing on “security, security, and security”.
He added the meetings would start quickly to “take the drama out of this”.
Denmark and Greenland have stressed sovereignty and territorial integrity are a “red line”.
Nielsen said on Thursday no deal could be made without involving Nuuk.
“Nobody else than Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark have the mandate to make deals or agreements,” he told reporters.
Frederiksen has repeatedly stated the same position.
A Danish colony for centuries, Greenland gained self-rule in 2009.
Denmark’s past assimilation policies have left many Greenlanders bitter and angry.
An overwhelming majority on the island support a drive for full independence.
Trump’s threats over the past year have led to a warming of ties between Denmark and Greenland, however.
“Trump’s pressure has prompted the wide majority of the (Greenlandic) political spectrum… to put the independence preparations aside for now,” said researcher Ulrik Pram Gad.
