Norway has rejected renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump on the Greenland issue, reports "Politico".
Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said that allies are already doing real work on Arctic security, monitoring Russian activity in the region.
"I told my American colleagues that we are actually providing protection for their homeland," Sandvik said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.
According to him, this is a direct response to Trump's argument that the US needs greater security in the Arctic and therefore should acquire Greenland. Earlier this week, the US president said that the island "should be under the control of the United States, not Denmark."
Sandvik did not personally criticize Trump, but stressed that the issue of Greenland is a border that cannot be crossed.
"Our position is absolutely clear - Greenland is part of Denmark, of the Kingdom of Denmark. We have made this clear to the Americans, too," he stressed.
According to the Norwegian minister, the security threat in the Arctic looks different, as the main military risk is not around Greenland.
"There are no Russian or Chinese military actions around Greenland," he noted.
When asked whether European allies should build a more permanent military presence around the island to strengthen the sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland, Sandvik focused on the sea area between the Svalbard archipelago and mainland Norway.
According to him, that is where the real strategic threat lies - Russian submarines leaving their bases on the Kola Peninsula and entering the North Atlantic.
"If you want to get to Greenland, you have to go through here," he explained, referring to the strategic sea corridor "Bear Gap" - the approximately 650-kilometer space between North Cape in northern Norway and the Svalbard archipelago.
"We monitor the silence underwater. "The defense of Greenland starts here," the minister stressed.
Sandvik also pointed out that Norway is already shouldering a significant part of the burden of the Alliance's security - both in the Arctic and through support for Ukraine.
According to him, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, the Baltic states and Germany are doing more than their fair share in helping Kiev, while some of the larger European economies are lagging behind.
"This is not sustainable for Europe in the long term", he was categorical.
However, Oslo has no intention of reducing its support for Ukraine.
"We will continue to allocate significant funds to Ukraine and will remain engaged for as long as necessary," Sandvik assured, adding that "all European countries must increase their efforts".