US President Donald Trump appears on a large screen as he addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo / Getty Images
US President Donald Trump appears on a large screen as he addresses the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo / Getty Images
The United States would control parts of Greenland by designating them as sovereign base areas under the terms of a proposed deal agreed in Davos.
Per the draft framework which mimics Britain’s agreement with Cyprus, American bases would be considered US territory in the Arctic region, the Telegraph understands.
Theframework, agreed between US Donald Trump and Mark Rutte, the Nato Secretary-General today, will ease Danish fears that the US is preparing to annex the semi-autonomous region.
Trump declined in a series of interviews to explain the terms of the deal but admitted the issue of ownership was a “little complex”.
The framework would allow the US to perform military operations, intelligence, and training, while also facilitating some local development including potentially mining for rare earth minerals, without seeking permission from Denmark.
Confirming the plan, a diplomatic source told the Telegraph: “The idea was to give Trump a deal”.
The Cyprus and United Kingdom-style plan is seen as a creative work-around to Trump’s demands for ownership of the island, which he views as being strategically important to America’s defence.
The terms of the Britain’s agreement with Cyprus grants it sovereignty over two military bases for strategic purposes while allowing Cypriots within the areas rights similar to elsewhere in the republic.
The US is already permitted to build and operate military bases in Greenland while having unrestricted “freedom of operation” between designated defence areas, including air, land, and sea.
In theory, the proposed new framework would allow the US to control parts of Greenland and potentially expand to mineral-rich areas which are coveted by Trump.
It also means that the US would not have to seek permits, such as planning permission.
A man takes a picture as he walks along the shoreline past ice formations as snow falls in Nuuk, Greenland. Photo / Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP
The proposal would also make it easier for the US to position assets belonging to its prospective Golden Dome there.
Sources told the Telegraph that during their meeting with Trump, Nato negotiators criticised Emmanuel Macron, the French President, and his “bazooka” language, in order to curry favour with the mercurial US President.
Macron is among those most fiercely opposed to Trump’s Greenland takeover threats and has argued for the use of the EU’s “bazooka” – blocking US companies from the continent’s internal market.
Speaking to reporters today, the US President said: “It’s a deal that people jumped at, really fantastic for the USA, gets everything we wanted, including especially real national security and international security.”
Nato’s military leaders arrived in Davos this week with the aim to take the political heat of the rift between Europe and Washington.
General Alexus Grynkewich, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, briefed his alliance counterparts on the threat assessment around Greenland and the wider Arctic.
At a meeting in Brussels, he told his fellow generals there had not been a step change in the threat posed by Russia and China in the High North.
But Grynkewich did highlight gaps in the surveillance and detection of ballistic missiles as a particular concern.
A Nato spokesman said: “The secretary-general had a very productive meeting with President Trump during which they discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region to all allies, including the US.
“Discussions among Nato allies on the framework the President referenced will focus on ensuring Arctic security through the collective efforts of allies, especially the seven Arctic allies.
“Negotiations between Denmark, Greenland, and the US will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland.”
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