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Denmark is sending extra troops, aircraft and ships to Greenland and said more would come later from Nato allies ahead of a crunch meeting with senior US officials over President Donald Trump’s desire to take control of the island.
Denmark’s and Greenland’s governments announced on Wednesday, just hours before the planned meeting with vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio, that there would be an “expanded military presence” in and around Greenland “in close co-operation with Nato allies”.
“Geopolitical tensions have spread to the Arctic . . . The purpose is to train the ability to operate under the unique Arctic conditions and to strengthen the alliance’s footprint in the Arctic, benefiting both European and transatlantic security,” the two governments added.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said several Swedish officers would arrive in Greenland on Wednesday at Denmark’s request to take part in a Danish exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance.
Their comments came as Trump further increased pressure on Copenhagen to cede control of the vast Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark, to him.
“NATO should be leading the way for us to get it . . . NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
The meeting between Vance, Rubio, Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt is the first between the three countries since Trump first expressed his interest in buying the world’s biggest island in 2019.
The US operates the sole military base in Greenland but has cut back its troop levels on the island significantly from more than 10,000 during the cold war to about 150 at present.
But Trump continues to lash out at Denmark, criticising it repeatedly for using dogsleds to patrol the remote and unpopulated north-east of Greenland against the potential Chinese and Russian threat.
“NATO: Tell Denmark to get them out of here, NOW! Two dogsleds won’t do it! Only the USA can!!!” Trump wrote in a second post on Wednesday morning on Truth Social.
Denmark announced in October that it would spend $4.2bn on increasing Arctic security, including two new military units, a joint Arctic command headquarters in Greenland’s capital of Nuuk, two ships, maritime patrol aircraft, drones and radar units. It also said it would boost its fleet of F-35 fighter jets to 43, costing another $4.5bn.
Denmark and Greenland said the increase in military presence would involve aircraft, ships and soldiers — including from Nato allies. They added that the military exercises this year could include guarding critical infrastructure, providing assistance to local authorities and receiving allied troops and deploying fighter aircraft and ships around Greenland.
Motzfeldt said it was a “core priority for the government of Greenland that defence and security in and around Greenland are strengthened, and that this is achieved in close co-operation with our Nato allies”.
Denmark has received strong messages of support from most European members of Nato after its prime minister Mette Frederiksen warned that a US invasion of Greenland would mean an end to the western military alliance.