France, allies coordinate response to the United States threats to seize Greenland
France is working with its partners to develop a response plan should the United States carry out its threat to seize the Danish territory of Greenland, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Wednesday.
Barrot stated that the matter would be raised for discussion during his meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland later on Wednesday.
The White House said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is discussing options to take control of Greenland, including the potential use of the US military, reviving his ambition to secure the strategic island despite European objections.
Earlier on Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed lawmakers in Congress that recent threats toward the Danish territory do not indicate an “imminent invasion.” Rubio reportedly told a closed-door briefing on Monday that the objective is to purchase the island from Denmark.
Rubio’s comments followed increasingly sharp rhetoric from the White House regarding control of the island. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have declined to rule out the use of force to seize the territory.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump has made the acquisition of Greenland a “national security priority” necessary to deter adversaries in the Arctic region.
“The President and his team are discussing a range of options to achieve this important foreign policy goal, and of course, the use of the US military always remains an option available to the Commander-in-Chief,” Leavitt said.
Trump previously discussed the idea of purchasing Greenland during his first term, but has become more insistent on making the territory part of the United States.
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) said any US attack on Greenland, which is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, would effectively mean the end of the political-military alliance that has spanned decades.
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