US President Donald Trump welcomed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to Washington amid concerns about his leaning towards Russia. The pair discussed Greenland, with Trump again defending the US annexation on security grounds.
The meeting took place on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to the US proposal for a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine.
Trump and Rutte did not schedule a press conference, but spoke to reporters in the Oval Office at the start of the meeting. One of the reporters asked about Trump's vision for a possible annexation of Greenland.
"I think it's going to happen." Trump said. "I'm sitting with a man who can be very helpful," he added, pointing to Rutte with his hand. Trump further elaborated on the matter: "You know, Mark, it's very important for international security because there are a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful. We'll talk to you."
Rutte tries to avoid NATO involvement, but Trump insists
Rutte interjected Trump's speech by saying: "As for Greenland, whether it joins the US or not, I will leave that out of this discussion because I don't want to involve NATO."
Rutte went on to say that he agreed with the importance of this area. "We know that the Chinese are using this route and that the Russians are using it. And we know that we lack icebreakers. There are seven Arctic countries in the region that are actually working on this under U.S. leadership, that's very important, and we need to be there." he stressed.
Trump mentioned that the US has already ordered 48 icebreakers for this purpose.
"Russia has 40 icebreakers. We must have protection. We have to agree on that. And Denmark is not able to do that. Denmark is very far away and really has nothing to do....they landed there 200 years ago or so and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true, actually I don't think it is." said the US President.
Trump recalled that his country already has several bases and many troops in Greenland.
"Maybe you'll see more and more soldiers going there, I don't know." He concluded.
The President regularly calls for European countries to spend more money on their own security and on the ongoing costs of supporting Ukraine against a full-scale Russian invasion.
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
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