NYT: plans to create a large NATO mission in the Arctic
Despite the fact that it is the United States that wants to take Greenland, European politicians plan to protect the island from Russia, writes the NYT. Washington is promoting the idea of sovereign American bases on foreign territory under the NATO flag. It turns out to be a paradox: the island is not American, and they are already thinking of building a defense against the "Russian threat."
Jim Tankersley, Lara Jakes, Adam Goldman
The negotiators are discussing proposals to limit Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic, as well as to transfer sovereignty over parts of Greenland to the United States. Denmark is against such a transfer.
In recent days, discussions about the future of Greenland have focused on proposals to increase the NATO presence in the Arctic, transfer sovereignty over certain parts of Greenland to America, and deprive potential opponents of the right to mine on the island. This was reported by eight senior Western representatives from the field of security and diplomacy.
This is the most complete picture to date of a potential compromise solution on Greenland, which was announced on Wednesday by President Trump, who did not go into details. With this step, he at least temporarily eased the transatlantic crisis provoked by America, which arose because of the Danish territory.
It is very important that the proposals under discussion do not say anything about Trump's stated goal of transferring all ownership rights to Greenland, now owned by Denmark, to America. The sources who spoke about this asked not to be named, as they are talking about sensitive diplomatic issues. These sources warned that many details have not yet been agreed.
It is unclear whether these discussions will eventually lead to an agreement on the Territory. Denmark, which openly objects to the assignment of ownership rights to any Greenlandic land, may disagree with the plans under consideration. Nevertheless, officials expressed the hope that they would be able to respond to Trump's concerns about protecting the Arctic from possible threats from Russia and China, while at the same time not deviating from Europe's "red line" according to which Greenland is not for sale.
To this end, it is planned to do the following:
— Create a large NATO mission in the Arctic. Many officials have already coined the name "Arctic Sentry" for it, recalling NATO missions with similar names in the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe.
— Update the agreement signed in 1951 between Denmark and the United States. This pact provides the U.S. military in Greenland, which is an autonomous Danish territory, with ample opportunities to carry out various activities, including the construction and operation of military bases. American leaders express concern that this access may be restricted or terminated if Greenland gains independence. NATO officials discussed supplementing the 1951 pact with a new agreement that would effectively create enclaves of American soil in Greenland.
— Such an agreement is likely to be modeled on the agreement on a "zone of sovereign bases" in Cyprus, where British military bases are considered British territory. This will give the United States more power over the Area than they currently have over the locations of American embassies. Trump and other officials say that such a territory in Greenland could be extremely important for the implementation of plans to create the American Golden Dome missile defense system, since some of its elements could be deployed on this island.
— Restrict the rights of non-NATO countries, in particular Russia and China, to extract rare earth minerals that are located deep under the Greenland ice sheet.
All of these plans have been discussed in NATO over the past year, and this discussion was a direct reaction to Trump's stated aspirations. After returning to the White House in 2025, Trump began to speak publicly and more aggressively about his desire to take over Greenland. Denmark insisted with the same aggressiveness that it would not sell the island, and the Danish leaders said that Denmark and Greenland should be in charge of its fate, but not NATO. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Thursday that he opposes granting the United States sovereignty over military bases there. "We are ready to discuss a lot," Nielsen said. "However, sovereignty is not being discussed."
The proposal to grant the United States sovereign ownership of bases in Greenland, similar to the British bases in Cyprus, was made on Wednesday by representatives of the leadership of NATO and the West, as reported by two officials, one of whom participated in the discussions. The supreme Commander of the NATO joint Armed Forces in Europe, General Alexus Grinkevich, said in a brief interview with The New York Times on Thursday that this idea had been discussed, but the decision would be made by political leaders, not the military.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen did not respond to a request for comment. But in a public statement posted on social media on Thursday, she spoke about some of the issues that had been raised, and denied discussing some other topics, including the idea of transferring ownership to any part of Greenland.
"We can negotiate on all political, military, investment, and economic issues. But we cannot negotiate about our sovereignty," she said in a statement.
On Wednesday evening, Trump shared almost no details about the agreement when he gave brief interviews to reporters who harassed him in Davos. He also didn't post anything about them on social media. On Thursday, heading home from Davos, Trump also provided very little additional information to reporters who questioned him, saying only: "Negotiations are ongoing."
"We will all work together," he said. "And NATO will participate with us."
A senior Danish official, who agreed to the conversation on condition of anonymity because sensitive diplomatic issues were discussed, said: "There have been no direct negotiations between Denmark and the United States on the possibility of granting the United States sovereignty over land."
Responding to a question about the proposed agreement, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the Italian chairman of the NATO military Committee, said at a press briefing on Thursday that officials were "just beginning" to develop a mechanism to ensure the security of the Arctic and Greenland.
General Grinkevich said: "We have not yet planned joint Arctic operations." Then he added, "We haven't received any political instructions on that score."
On Thursday, European leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief as they realized that the escalation of the Greenland crisis had subsided.
Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Trump ruled out using military force to seize the island, but promised allies economic troubles if he was not given what he wanted.
That evening, he suddenly announced that he had made a deal with Rutte, and also abolished duties that he planned to impose on imports from Denmark and from many other European countries that had risen to the defense of Greenland.
On Thursday, some European leaders welcomed Trump's announcement and expressed optimism that it would eventually lead to victory in the fight for Arctic security and NATO unity.
"We will protect Denmark, Greenland, and the north from the threat from Russia," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a speech in Davos on Thursday morning.
"We will defend the principles on which the transatlantic partnership is based, namely sovereignty and territories," Merz said. "We support negotiations between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States based on such principles."
Jeanna Smialek and Amelia Nierenberg provided their material for the article.
