Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C) flanked by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (2L), NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (2R), Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (L) and Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof (R) face a screen with other participants joining by video link as he hosts a 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting of international partners on Ukraine at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) in central London on October 24, 2025. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in London on Friday that there was more that Western allies could do to bolster Kyiv's long-range missile capability.  HENRY NICHOLLS / POOL / AFP
WORLD

NATO chief, Danish PM agree on boosting Arctic security

Agence France-Presse

NATO chief Mark Rutte and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen agreed Friday the alliance should boost work on Arctic security, after US President Donald Trump backed off his threats to seize Greenland.

"We're working together to ensure that the whole of NATO is safe and secure and will build on our cooperation to enhance deterrence and defence in the Arctic," Rutte wrote on X after meeting Frederiksen in Brussels. 

Frederiksen -- who was to travel to Greenland to meet its premier on Friday -- said "we agree that NATO should increase its engagement in the Arctic". 

"Defence and security in the Arctic are matters for the entire alliance," she wrote on X. 

The meeting came after Trump claimed he had struck a framework deal with Rutte on Wednesday that satisfied him after he made demands to take the autonomous Arctic territory from Denmark. 

Trump backed off his threats to seize Greenland and impose tariffs on NATO allies blocking him despite not making headway on his main demand for control of the island.   

Details of what, if anything, was agreed  have not been made public -- but officials say NATO boosting security in the Arctic was part of the plan. 

Frederiksen on Thursday said that NATO allies agreed on the need for a "permanent presence" in the Arctic, including around Greenland. 

Members of the alliance have floated setting up a new NATO mission in the Arctic, but commanders say concrete planning has yet to start. 

Officials familiar with Rutte's talks with Trump said that Denmark and the United States would look to renegotiate a 1951 pact governing American force deployments on Greenland. 

That could allow Washington to boost its military footprint on the vast island, including potentially stationing parts of Trump's planned "Golden Dome" missile defence system. 

NATO also said that the United States, Denmark and Greenland would negotiate on stepping up efforts to stop Russia and China gaining a "foothold" on the territory. 

Trump used the alleged threat from both Moscow and Beijing to Greenland as a major justification for why he needed to take control.