US President Donald Trump has said that a framework deal struck with NATO would give his country permanent and unfettered access to Greenland. Through the pact, he is eventually eyeing "total access" to the autonomous territory presently under Denmark's control.
After he met NATO Secretary Mark Rutte in Davos, Trump suggested an agreement was possible that would meet the US' demands for enhanced missile defence and access to key mineral resources.
The substance of the proposed deal remains uncertain, with Rutte saying that talks with Trump in Davos did not include any discussion on whether Greenland would continue under Danish sovereignty, news agency Reuters reported.
"One workstream coming out of yesterday ... is to make sure when it comes to Greenland, particularly, that we ensure that the Chinese and the Russians will not gain access to the Greenland economy (or) militarily to Greenland," Rutte was quoted as saying.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One, as he travelled back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, that negotiations were underway on a fresh agreement that would be “much more generous to the United States, so much more generous.”
“We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do,” he said.
What The Greenland PM Said
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, while reacting to Trump's statements, said he was “still in the dark on many aspects.”
"I don't know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country," he told reporters in the capital Nuuk.
"We are ready to discuss a lot of things, and we are ready to negotiate a better partnership and so on. But sovereignty is a red line," he said, when asked about reports that Trump was seeking control of areas around US military bases in Greenland as part of a wider deal.
Previously, Trump also told Fox Business Network that the deal would ensure “total access” for the United States.
Bloomberg reported that the arrangement described by Trump would include the deployment of US missile systems, access to mining operations intended to limit China's involvement, and an expanded NATO footprint. The report cited a European official who was briefed after the discussions.
Under the framework outlined in the report, amendments to a 1951 Treaty between the US and Denmark would be pursued to meet US military base requirements, alongside a stronger NATO security presence in the Arctic and High North, including a US-led multinational command in Greenland.
As per the 1951 treaty, “The Government of the United States of America shall have the right to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over those defence areas in Greenland for which it is responsible...”
According to a Bloomberg report, the provisional deal also pointed to the need for further talks on economic issues, including access to mining, while outlining steps to curb Russian and Chinese commercial involvement and reaffirming calls for a military presence in Greenland.
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