NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte did not offer any compromise on sovereignty during his conversation with US President Donald Trump about Greenland, alliance spokeswoman Alison Hart announced today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
"The Secretary General did not offer any compromise on sovereignty during his meeting with the President (Trump - ed.) in Davos", Hart said. She did not provide further information, Reuters reports.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the 56th World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort town of Davos.
Earlier, Rutte himself said that the parties to the dispute over control of Greenland "still have a lot of work to do," DPA reported.
Rutte said in an interview with the American television channel "Fox News" that US President Donald Trump had agreed in a conversation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that the Arctic island needed joint protection. The secretary general of the alliance added that the US would continue negotiations with Greenland and Denmark, whose autonomous territory the island is. One of the issues to be discussed is how to prevent Russia and China from gaining access to the Greenland economy.
Rutte said his conversation with Trump had a "very good result", but added that the countries concerned "still have a lot of work to do".
He said he and Trump had agreed to explore how NATO could contribute to the security of the entire Arctic region. Rutte also stressed the need to take measures on land, sea and air to protect Greenland, which he described as an important part of the world and NATO territory.
Earlier, the US president said after his meeting with Rutte that the main lines of an agreement on Greenland had already been drawn up. In this regard, the NATO secretary general was asked whether the agreement in question envisages that the island would remain Danish territory. "This issue was not raised further in my conversations tonight", Rutte replied. According to him, the focus was on the defense of Greenland.