Denmark rebuts Trump's Greenland security claims

There are no Chinese warships operating around Greenland and no significant Chinese investments in the region, Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, as he countered United States' threats to seize the Arctic island.

Rasmussen, together with Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, had an hourlong meeting with US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, the first face-to-face meeting between the high-level officials as Washington's talk of taking full control of Greenland has run high.

"It was a great opportunity also for Vivian and I to go up against the narrative, because it is not a true narrative that we have, you know, Chinese warships all around the place," Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting.

"According to our intelligence, we haven't had a Chinese warship in Greenland for a decade or so," he said at a news conference.

"There are no Chinese warships along the coast of Greenland. ... Nor are there any massive Chinese investments in Greenland," Rasmussen was also quoted by AFP as telling the Danish press after talks with US officials.

Despite a "frank and constructive" atmosphere, Rasmussen said that the White House meeting failed to change the US position on Greenland, and that a "fundamental disagreement" persists.

"It's clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom," he said at the news conference.

Motzfeldt said they had clearly defined their boundaries, and that from that point, "it will be very good to look forward".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China and Russia are seeking to control Greenland when arguing that the US must take over the island for security reasons.