LONDON – European NATO allies warned the United States on Tuesday that it “will not stop defending” the values of sovereignty and territorial integrity following President Donald Trump's announcement. threats against the Danish island of Greenland.
Trump and his team have increased hostile speculation that they want to take over Greenlanda huge Arctic island with a population of only 50,000, of mineral and strategic importance. USA attack on Venezuela and capture of President Nicolas Maduro – which the United Nations says undermines international law – has raised concerns that it may not be an idle threat.
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European leaders were in Paris Meeting with President of Ukraine Vladimir ZelenskyAccording to a White House spokesman, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and others. This is the latest round of frantic shuttle diplomacy to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
While those talks have accelerated since November, the US attack on Venezuela and ongoing proposals to seize Greenland have cast a shadow over talks being held with the very allies that – under NATO's principle of collective defense – Trump is proposing to attack.
“The Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland, is part of NATO,” the allies said in a joint statement.
“Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, together with NATO allies, including the United States, by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders. These are universal principles, and we will not cease to defend them,” said a statement issued by the leaders of France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark.
It added that “the United States is an important partner in this endeavor, as a NATO ally” and thanks to a 1951 defense agreement allowing Washington to build military bases on the huge island. “Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said. “The decision on matters relating to Denmark and Greenland belongs to Denmark and Greenland and them alone,” the statement said.
One of the key elements being discussed in Paris is Ukraine's and Europe's desire for “security guarantees”, which could take the form of the deployment of a multinational force in Ukraine to ensure that Russia does not launch further attacks.
In a statement on Saturday, Ukraine's president called the meeting “a new opportunity to end this war.”
Macron said that at a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” on Tuesday, the powers would “make concrete commitments” to ensure Ukraine's security as part of any future peace deal with Russia.
Kyiv and its allies have constantly stated that this must be supported by American military power. But Trump has signaled he might instead turn that power against a NATO ally, telling NBC News on Monday that he is “very serious” about his ambitions to take control of Greenland.
Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, went even further. He told CNN that “it is clear that Greenland should be part of the United States” because of what he called the geostrategic importance of the island, helping Washington fulfill its role as a “NATO force.”
“The real question is what right does Denmark have to control Greenland?” – he said. “Nobody is going to war with the United States over Greenland,” Miller added.
Any US action against Greenland would be a dramatic and historic escalation, even when contrasted with Trump's past hostility towards Washington's former European allies.
Denmark is a NATO partner and dozens of its troops have died in combat during US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many experts believe that the US military move to seize the territory will spell the end of the alliance and mark a new decline in transatlantic ties that had already become strained under Trump.
“It would de facto mean that NATO is dead, because a lot of European countries will just say, 'OK, we can't rely on the Americans anymore,'” said Peter Viggo Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defense College.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said much the same thing Monday, telling her country's TV2 that “if the United States decides to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything will stop.”
Even without the Greenland scare, it remains a monumental task to bridge the gap between Russia's insistence on its tough demands and fears in Ukraine and Europe that Vladimir Putin could use the deal as a launching pad for a new attack.
Zelensky said the peace deal there was “90%,” although he suggested the final 10% contained the most pressing issues.
It is unclear whether Russia will ever accept any form of security guarantees, as Putin has shown little hesitation in his demand for Ukraine's effective capitulation.
