WASHINGTON — Denmark's top diplomat met Jan. 14 with U.S.Vice President JD Vanceand Secretary of State Marco Rubio but said the allied nations are not in sync about the future of Greenland, which he said PresidentDonald Trump"has this wish of conquering."
With Denmark citing a "fundamental disagreement," officials decided to form a high-level working group to determine how to move forward. The first meeting is expected to take place in a "matter of weeks," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said at a news conference Jan. 14 in Washington.
"We didn't manage to change the American position," Rasmussen said ofPresident Donald Trump'sbid to acquire the self-governing island. "It's clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom."
Rasmussen was joined by Greenland Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt at the White House on Jan. 14 for the meeting with Vance and Rubio that was requested by the Danes amid renewed threats fromTrump to annex the Danish territory.
Trump said during a Jan. 9 meeting with oil executives that "we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not," and added it could happen "the easy way" or "the hard way," as his administration refused to rule out military action.
While "there's clearly a disagreement," Rasmussen said, the two sides did agree "that it makes sense to try to sit down on a high level to explore whether there are possibilities to accommodate the concerns of the president while we, at the same time, respect the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark."
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The Danish governmentannounced anexpanded military presence in and around Greenland on Jan. 14 in close cooperation with NATO nations and Rasmussen said at his news conference that it was prepared to go further.
"So this is the work we will start," Rasmussen, who served as prime minister of Denmark during Trump's first term in office, said. "Whether that is doable, I don't know. I hope... that it could take down the temperature."
Trump's rhetoric about seizing Greenland began more than a year ago, Rasmussen noted, before he was inaugurated. It has generated discourse on social media between the U.S. and Denmark, but "this is actually the first time when we could sit down at a top political level to discuss it."
The meeting offered the opportunity to challenge Trump's narrative, he said. It is not the case, according to Danish intelligence, that Chinese warships are amassing near Greenland, Rasmussen told reporters." We haven't had a Chinese in Greenland for a decade or so."
Motzfeldt said that it is in the interest of the allied nations and Greenland to "find the right balance" and pushed for the relationship to revert back to where it had been before the recent tensions.
"We have shown where our...limits are. And from there, I think it would be very good to look forward," she said standing alongside Rasmussen at the news conference. "It's in all our interests to find the right path."
It was not immediately clear which Denmark, Greenland or U.S. officials would be part of the working group. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More:US official says Greenland action could come within 'weeks or months'
Also unclear was whether the U.S. offered to purchase Greenland during the meeting. Top administration officials have said that buying Greenland is Trump's preferred route. Denmark has said repeatedly that the island is not for sale.
"It is, of course, very emotional, for all of us," Rasmussen said.
At a news conference in Copenhagen on Jan. 13, Prime Minister of Greenland Jens-Frederik Nielsen was emphatic: "Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States."
Trump signaled ahead of the White House meeting that he does not plan to back down. He emphasized on social media that the U.S. "needs" Greenland fornational security purposes.
"Greenland's very important for national security," he told reporters in the Oval Office on Jan. 14.
The president did not personally participate in the meeting and said he had not yet been briefed on the conversation.
"The problem is, there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it, if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there's everything we can do," he said. "You found that out last week with Venezuela. There's everything we can do with things such as that."
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Greenland dispute persists after Vance, Rubio meet with Denmark
