Denmark, Greenland ministers meet US secretary of state in Munich

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen met Friday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Copenhagen said Frederiksen and Nielsen held talks with Rubio as part of the annual gathering in Munich.

"Constructive talk with Secretary of State Marco Rubio together with Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, at the Munich Security Conference. Work will continue as agreed in the high-level working group," Frederiksen wrote on the US social media company X.

The talks follow a Jan. 14 meeting in Washington between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, US Vice President JD Vance, and Rubio.

During that meeting, officials discussed US President Donald Trump's interest in Greenland because of its strategic Arctic location, rich mineral resources and concerns about increasing Russian and Chinese influence in the region.

Denmark and Greenland have rejected proposals to sell the territory, reaffirming Danish sovereignty over the island.

Critics said Trump's drive to acquire Greenland threatens to tear apart NATO, which would be a boon for Russian and Chinese strategic interests. They added that the US could easily defend Greenland from outside threats by using existing treaties allowing numerous US bases and forces on the island.