Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said after the long-awaited talks with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that there are still "fundamental differences" between Copenhagen and Washington on Greenland, world agencies reported.
However, the two sides agreed to create a working group to find a solution to the disagreements.
"In our opinion, the group should focus on the question of how to respond to American security concerns, while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark," Rasmussen told journalists after the end of the negotiations, which also included Greenland's Foreign Minister Viviane Motzfelt. "It is clear that the president (Trump) has the desire to conquer Greenland", the Danish diplomat added.
Denmark is a member of the EU and a US ally in NATO. Copenhagen has questioned the future of the North Atlantic Treaty if the "rattling of weapons" from the American side continues, DPA notes.
Trump did not attend the meeting at the White House. Earlier in the day, he wrote on the social network "Truth Social": "NATO becomes a much more powerful and effective organization when Greenland is in the hands of the US... Anything less is unacceptable". He argued his demands with the risks that, in his opinion, Russia and China create in the region.
After the end of the consultations at the White House, Trump again stated that he wants Greenland to become part of the US. "We need Greenland for our national security," Trump told reporters. "We'll see how things go. I think something will work out," he added, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Both Rasmussen and Motzfeldt expressed moderate hope that the White House talks are the beginning of a dialogue that will lead Trump to drop his demand to acquire the Arctic territory and pave the way for closer cooperation with the United States. "We have shown how far our borders extend and I think it would be very good to look ahead from here", Motzfelt said, quoted by the AP.
Meanwhile, Denmark announced plans to increase its military presence in the Arctic and the North Atlantic.
"We will continue to strengthen our military presence in Greenland, but we will also insist on NATO for more exercises and an increased presence of the alliance in the Arctic," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lun Poulsen wrote in a statement to AFP a few hours before the meeting at the White House. He said other NATO allies were already arriving in Greenland along with Danish military personnel. Poulsen declined to name the countries contributing to the increased Arctic presence, saying allies themselves must announce their participation.
The new security commitments, at least those announced by Greenland's allies, appear modest, the AP reported.
Germany said it would send 13 soldiers to Greenland this week "to explore the framework for a potential military contribution" to the island. Sweden announced on Wednesday it was sending an unspecified number of soldiers to Greenland for military exercises. Two Norwegian soldiers have also been sent to the Arctic island, tasked with outlining further cooperation with allies, Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said, quoted by the AP. French soldiers will take part in a European military mission in Greenland, AFP reported, citing information from the French armed forces.
Greenland is strategically important because the melting of ice caused by climate change opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. Warming could also facilitate the extraction and transportation of untapped deposits of critical minerals needed to produce computers and mobile phones, the AP notes.
Trump says Greenland is "vital" and for the US missile defense program "Golden Dome". The US president also says he wants to use the territory to strengthen US security and has repeatedly referred to the threat he says is posed by Russian and Chinese ships. "If we don't go in, Russia will go in and China will go in," Trump said again on Wednesday. "And there's nothing Denmark can do about it, but we can do anything," the American leader added.