In the Greenland issue, Denmark and the USA occupy "fundamentally different positions." Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lyokke Rasmussen made a similar statement after talks in Washington on Wednesday evening, January 14th. US Vice President Jay Dee Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the meeting.
At the same time, Rasmussen called on the US for cooperation based on mutual respect, even against the backdrop of current harsh rhetoric. He noted that an agreement was reached to create a high-level working group to identify compromises and solutions. That is, the parties are trying to move "from word to word."
The Danish minister explained that the new working group will have to simultaneously maintain two important criteria: on the one hand, the interests of US national security will be taken into account; on the other hand, it will ensure that the "red lines" of the Kingdom of Denmark are not crossed. The first meeting of this working group is expected to be held within a few weeks.
Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motsfeldt also participated in the negotiations. He also expressed a desire to strengthen practical cooperation with Washington, but stated the fundamental point openly: he does not want Greenland to belong to the US. This position once again demonstrated the Greenland side's desire to maintain its autonomous status and political will.
It was reported that the dialogue between representatives of the US, Denmark, and Greenland took place in a government building near the White House and lasted approximately an hour. As Dpa recalled before this meeting, US President Donald Trump stated that he "would not deviate even a millimeter from his demands."
According to Trump, Greenland is crucial for US national security. He considers this area particularly important in terms of the effective operation of the "Golden Dome" air defense system. Trump also emphasized the issue of security in the Arctic region: in his opinion, the activity of Russia and China is growing there, therefore, in the context of strategic competition, it is necessary to strengthen the position of the USA.
Earlier, Donald Trump said that Washington should gain control of Greenland, a Danish autonomous region, "by any means." The White House also stated that deploying the US Army as Supreme Commander-in-Chief to "annex" Greenland was "one of the options" for Trump.
The conclusion is this: the parties have begun to "hear" each other, but the positions are still far away. Now the main question is whether the created working group will lead to a real solution or is it just a diplomatic "time-out." The game in the Arctic is big, so every sentence spoken and every step taken in the coming weeks is closely monitored.
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