COPENHAGEN, Denmark: The first meeting of officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States (US) has taken place in Washington following President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that he would not use force to resolve the dispute around the Arctic territory, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
Speaking to reporters in Copenhagen on Friday (Jan 23), Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen did not say who participated in the previous day’s talks, according to the Ritzau news agency.
Løkke Rasmussen announced the formation of a working group to seek a solution to the Greenland question.
“We will not communicate when those meetings are, because what is needed now is to take the drama out of this,” the Danish minister said, emphasising the need for a “calm process”.
In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, Trump told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that he would not use force to acquire Greenland, after previously refusing to rule it out.
He also withdrew his threat of punitive tariffs against European countries that had opposed his Greenland goals.
A framework for a future agreement on Greenland and the entire Arctic region had been established during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said. – BERNAMA-dpa
