US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced he will hold talks with Denmark next week amid concerns over America's desire to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland.
Marco Rubio's statement to reporters followed a closed-door briefing with US senators and came a day after the White House mentioned President Donald Trump discussing options, including military force, for acquiring Greenland.
Concerns about the future of the territory resurfaced after Trump’s unilateral use of military force against Venezuela on Saturday to seize its President Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration claims that Greenland is vital to US security, while Denmark warns that an attack on Greenland would jeopardize the NATO military alliance.
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, Rubio said on Wednesday. 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.
Earlier in the day, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated that Rubio had ruled out the possibility of an invasion of Greenland in a phone conversation.
Barrot is scheduled to discuss the strategic Arctic island with his German and Polish counterparts later on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, European leaders issued a joint statement supporting Denmark’s stance against Trump’s ambitions regarding Greenland.
Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations, the leaders of France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Denmark emphasized in a joint statement.
They highlighted their commitment to Arctic security, stating it should be achieved collectively among NATO allies, including the US.
In the wake of the US military action in Venezuela, Katie Miller, wife of one of Trump’s senior aides, shared a map of Greenland painted with the US flag and the word SOON on social media.
Miller’s husband, Stephen Miller, asserted that it is the formal position of the US government that Greenland should be part of the US.
Local voices, including Morgan Angaju, an Inuit resident in Ilulissat, expressed concern, describing it as terrifying to listen to the leader of the free world laughing at Denmark and Greenland and just talking about us like we're something to claim.
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