The leaders of Denmark and Greenland on Sunday called on US President Donald Trump to stop threatening to take over Greenland, DW reports.
The appeals come after Trump again insisted that the US needs to control the resource-rich Arctic territory for national security, a day after US forces attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro.
In an interview on Sunday with The Atlantic magazine, Trump said: "We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense." He added that the island is "surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships."
On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that the US needs Greenland "from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."
In a statement, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, "It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the US needing to take over Greenland. The US has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Danish Kingdom."
The Kingdom of Denmark consists of three self-governing parts: Denmark proper (the mainland and its islands), the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
These territories are united under a single sovereign state and share foreign policy, defense, and currency. However, the Faroe Islands and Greenland enjoy significant autonomy.
As members of NATO, Denmark and the US are allies.
Frederiksen also strongly urged the US to stop the threats against a historically close ally and "against another country and another people, who have very clearly said that they are not for sale."
Meanwhile, Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement: "When the President of the United States says that 'we need Greenland' and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it's not just wrong. It's disrespectful."
