According to NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte, a new framework that was reached with US President Donald Trump as he attempted to buy Greenland will require that the country immediately increase its Arctic security.
As Washington’s traditional European allies scrambled to respond to Trump’s sudden remark regarding his threats to acquire the strategic Arctic island, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark, the NATO chief made the remarks at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.
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Rutte told Reuters, “We will work with our senior commanders in NATO to determine what is required.”
“I have no doubt that we can accomplish this quickly. I certainly hope for 2026, and I hope even soon thereafter.
Trump has increased his threats to seize the island in recent weeks, citing fears that China or Russia might buy it, which could plunge US-European relations to their lowest point in decades and raise concerns about NATO’s survival.
However, the US leader unexpectedly dropped his threat to impose 10% tariffs on European nations who oppose his government’s plan to conquer the island and ruled out using force to seize it, saying he and Rutte had come to terms with a “framework” for a pending agreement involving Greenland and the Arctic region.
Trump also mentioned the “additional discussions” being held on Greenland regarding the $175 billion Golden Dome missile defence program, which will launch US weapons into space for the first time, but he provided few details about the discussions.
Rutte told Reuters that he was confident that NATO allies outside the Arctic would support the effort and that Ukraine’s support for its conflict with Russia would not suffer from increased security focus.
Rutte noted that discussions regarding the mineral exploitation on the resource-rich island had not been held during the meeting with Trump. Additionally, negotiations would continue between the US, Denmark, and Greenland itself.
Denmark is unable to bargain for its own future.
We cannot bargain over our sovereignty, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement released on Thursday.
It was “good and natural” for Trump and Rutte to discuss Arctic security, according to Frederiksen, and it was up to NATO as a whole.
She claimed to have spoken with Rutte “on an ongoing basis,” including both before and after his meeting with Trump in Davos, and that she had been informed that only Denmark and Greenland could decide matters of their own making.
Denmark wanted to keep talking with allies about strengthening security in the Arctic, including the US Golden Dome program, “provided that this is done with respect to our territorial integrity,” Frederiksen said.
Rutte said the question “did not come up again in my conversations tonight with the president” when asked whether Greenland would continue to be a part of the Danish kingdom under the framework agreement Trump announced in an interview with Fox News.
He is very focused on what we need to do to protect the vast Arctic region, where change is occurring right now, and where the Chinese and Russians are actively engaged, according to Rutte.
“Our discussions really focused on that,” she said.
Rutte “did not propose any compromise to sovereignty during his meeting with President Trump,” according to NATO spokesman Allison Hart on Thursday.
She added that discussions between Denmark, Greenland, and the US would continue in order to “make sure that Russia and China never gain a foothold in Greenland, whether economically or militarily.”
Germany backs discussions.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reaffirmed that Europeans should not dismiss Trump’s U-turn on Greenland too quickly.
According to Merz, “We support discussions between Denmark, Greenland, and] the United States on the basis of these principles,” aiming for closer cooperation.
“We are making steps in that right direction, which is good news,” said the minister. This is the right course of action, according to President Trump’s remarks from last night.
Merz argued that the Arctic region must be more closely watched by European NATO allies because it represents “a common transatlantic interest.”
He declared, “We will shield Denmark, Greenland, and the north from the threat posed by Russia.”
“We will uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity principles that the transatlantic partnership was founded on.”
His remarks were made at a Thursday emergency summit, when EU leaders were reportedly scheduled to discuss re-evaluating their ties to Washington.





