The US president has clashed with NATO allies over his plans to annex the Danish overseas territory
European leaders should focus on the Ukraine conflict rather than US efforts to acquire Greenland, President Donald Trump told NBC News on Monday.
In a phone interview with the news outlet, he criticized European leaders for resisting his efforts to acquire the Danish territory, which he argues is necessary for US national security.
“Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that’s gotten them,” Trump said. “That’s what Europe should focus on – not Greenland.”
EU and NATO delegations are abandoning their prepared talking points on Ukraine for their upcoming meetings with Trump at the World Economic Forum later this week, Politico reported on Monday, citing officials. Now, “Trump’s unsolicited bid to acquire Greenland is expected to top the agenda,” it wrote.
Last week, the US president announced 10% tariffs on eight European NATO nations for opposing his Greenland bid and for sending soldiers for military drills on the island.
Trump has also not ruled out military action, telling NBC “no comment” when asked if he would use force to seize the territory. Previously, he warned that he would take the island “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
The Greenland issue has recently overtaken the Ukraine conflict as the main focus of European leaders, who claim that Russia represents a military threat – allegations that Moscow dismisses as nonsense.
Russia has long maintained that weapons supplies to Kiev make Western nations parties to the conflict, which Moscow considers a proxy war waged against it using Ukrainian manpower.
The military aid has made European countries “the main obstacles to peace” amid US-brokered peace talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday, adding that the EU is openly preparing to go to war with Russia.
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