Greenland says US talks make progress but island is not for sale

Greenland‘s government said on Monday that progress has been made in high-stakes talks with the United States over the territory’s future, but that the giant island sought by President Donald Trump will never be for sale.

U.S. special envoy Jeff Landry, appointed by Trump last year to push for American control ​of Greenland, arrived in Nuuk on Sunday and met on Monday with Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Foreign Minister Mute Egede.

“We believe there is progress, and from Greenland‘s side we are focused on finding a solution that is good for us all, and most importantly that threats of annexation, takeover or a purchase of Greenland and the Greenlandic people does not occur,” Nielsen told reporters after meeting with Landry.

There was no immediate statement from Landry who told local media on Sunday he was there to “listen and learn”.

Trump’s assertion that the U.S. must acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, has sparked tension between Washington and Copenhagen, both founding NATO members, and more broadly across Europe.

“They asked for a meeting, and we’ve explained our situation and standpoint, and that we have some red lines – we will not sell Greenland, we will own Greenland for all time,” Egede said.

Seeking to calm tensions, Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. earlier this year agreed to hold high-level diplomatic negotiations to resolve the crisis, ​although the outcome of those ongoing talks has yet to be presented.

The United States wants to boost its military presence in Greenland and make it part of Trump’s planned “Golden Dome” system of defence against nuclear attack.

The U.S. currently has one active base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base in the northwest, down from around 17 facilities in 1945 when thousands of U.S. personnel staffed facilities around the island.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Soren Jeppesen in Copenhagen; Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Andrew Heavens)