US President Donald Trump says he has reached a framework agreement over Greenland and has backed down from threats to impose tariffs on European allies as leverage to seize the Danish territory, a dispute that has shaken the NATO alliance.
“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” he said in a social media post, after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte,
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he added, referring to levies of up to 25 percent that he had threatened to impose against Denmark and other European allies that have sent troops to Greenland in solidarity, including France, Britain, and Germany.
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'Long-term' deal
Rutte later said the question of whether Greenland would remain part of Denmark did not come up during his talks with Trump. He leads NATO, which has no authority over Greenland’s sovereignty.
Trump did not give details of the framework agreement, but said it met his demands.
“It’s a deal that everybody’s very happy with," he told reporters, hours after a speech in which he appeared to remove the threat of force to seize Greenland.
“It’s a long-term deal. It’s the ultimate long-term deal. I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security, and minerals and everything else."
Ongoing negotiations
European diplomats said the president’s sudden shift in tone does not resolve the dispute but helps defuse the rift between allies and allows them to work out their differences in private.
It remained unclear what kind of agreement could meet Trump's demands for outright "ownership" of a territory that its residents and leaders have said is not for sale.
A NATO spokesperson later said that "negotiations between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold - economically or militarily - in Greenland" – a key stated concern of Trump.
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Greenlanders react
Meanwhile, skepticism of Trump’s turnaround remains in Greenland, where authorities started handing out brochures on how to live through a crisis.
Aaja Chenmitz, one of two Greenlandic lawmakers in the Danish parliament, questioned why NATO would have a voice on the island's mineral wealth.
"NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland," she posted on social media. “Nothing about us without us.”
(with newswires)
