US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said he would be meeting with Denmark next week over Greenland even as the White House said that President Donald Trump has "actively discussed" the purchase of the island with his team.
Trump has argued that the US needs to control the strategic Arctic island to ensure its own security in the face of rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.
“I’ll be meeting with them next week. We’ll have those conversations with them then,” Rubio said when asked about Copenhagen’s outreach, reported Reuters.
Responding to a question on whether Trump intended for the United States to buy Greenland, Rubio said that this had always been the president’s position.
Rubio also reiterated that US presidents retain a range of options when national security is at stake. “If the president identifies a threat to the national security of the United States, every president retains the option to address it through military means,” he said.
However, he stressed that diplomacy remained the preferred approach. “As a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways – that included in Venezuela,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying.
Greenland to join US–Denmark talks
{{/usCountry}}However, he stressed that diplomacy remained the preferred approach. “As a diplomat, which is what I am now, and what we work on, we always prefer to settle it in different ways – that included in Venezuela,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying.
Greenland to join US–Denmark talks
{{/usCountry}}Greenland’s government will participate in a meeting next week between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish officials, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as tensions persist over the Arctic island’s future.
Confirming Greenland’s involvement, Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said the territory had sought the talks after Washington and Copenhagen agreed to engage.
“Of course we will take part. We’re the ones who requested a meeting,” Motzfeldt told Danish public broadcaster DR, after Rubio confirmed that the meeting would go ahead, reported AFP.
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The White House, meanwhile, said that all options are on the table on Greenland, adding that the first option is always diplomacy.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, which is a longtime US ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. The government in Greenland is also opposed to US intervention on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.
Rubio earlier told a select group of lawmakers that it was Trump administration’s intention to eventually purchase Greenland rather than use military force.
On Wednesday, he told reporters that Trump has been talking about acquiring Greenland since his first term.
Tensions with NATO members escalated after the White House said Tuesday that the “US military is always an option." Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned earlier this week that a US takeover would amount to the end of NATO.
Greenland purchase actively discussed: White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that the US potential purchase of Greenland is being actively discussed by Trump and his team.
“All options are always on the table for President Trump ... the President's first option always has been diplomacy,” she told a media briefing.