US, Denmark and Greenland discuss capacity building in the Arctic

Dafter the announcement of a security agreement involving Greenland, the Danish autonomous region, the three heads of diplomacy met during a meeting of the Arctic Council — part of the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden — in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

“ The Allies agreed that Arctic security requires a continuous investment to safeguard this vital region and dissuade strategic competitors,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

The talks between Rubio Danish counterparts, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Greenlandese Múte Egede, “focused on taking greater responsibility for Arctic security through the development of sovereign military and economic capabilities,” the spokesman added.

This was the first public meeting among representatives of the three parties since President Donald Trump announced on Friday a “historical” security agreement on the Arctic island — whose military invasion threatened earlier this year.

Although the full content of the pact is not known, it would grant the United States a permanent military presence on the island and veto the access of Russia and China while respecting Denmark's sovereignty over the autonomous territory and the right to self-determination of Greenland.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the Greenland Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, traveled on Sunday to New York, where the agreement is scheduled to be signed on Tuesday.

Donald Trump caused a crisis this year with the European allies by threatening to annex Danish autonomous territory, whose strategic location in the Arctic region and natural resources are coveted by Washington.

Although the details were not disclosed, the Danish Government pointed out that the Greenland agreement respects the “red lines” of Copenhagen by ensuring its sovereignty, even if Washington maintains “permanent control” over the security of the territory.

The agreement “recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandese people to self-determination,” Mette Frederiksen stressed.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, welcomed on social media the end of “a long period of uncertainty”, hoping that it would be followed by “a binding agreement that will strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic” and also in Denmark within NATO and Europe.

According to Donald Trump's administration, understanding prevents China and Russia from establishing bases in Greenland or making sensitive investments without his consent, also paving the way for strengthening the US military presence.

A 1951 defense agreement, updated in 2004, already granted the US armed forces virtually carte blanche to deploy facilities in Greenland, provided they notified the authorities.

The US Vice President, JD Vance, visited Greenland in March 2025, a trip that the authorities of Nuuk and Copenhagen received as a provocation.

Donald Trump even admitted the possibility of “using force” to take over the territory of 57,000 inhabitants, sowing high concern in the European Union and NATO allies.

Currently, the United States only relies on the base of the Pituffik Space Force (formerly Thule base) on the island after decades of reduction in its presence, although the Danish authorities stressed that this policy was a Washington decision.