French President Emmanuel Macron has called on NATO allies to conduct a military exercise in Greenland in response to US President Donald Trump's increasing bellicose rhetoric regarding the Danish territory.
"France calls for a NATO exercise in Greenland and is ready to contribute to it," Macron's office said on Wednesday ahead of Trump's arrival at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he is expected to escalate his push for acquiring the Arctic territory.
It was not immediately clear if the proposed exercise would involve troops from the US, which is by far the biggest military power in the alliance.
Speaking in Davos on Tuesday, Macron responded to Trump's threat to impose tariffs with scathing criticism and an insistence that Europe would not give in to bullies or be intimidated.
The Trump administration has claimed that the US should control Greenland for geopolitical reasons as the opening up of new Arctic sea lanes — due to global warming — threatens to increase tensions with Russia and China in the region.
The president himself has also linked the issue to his frustration at not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize.
But given that Denmark, to which Greenland belongs, is a member of both NATO and the European Union, NATO leaders have warned that Trump's ?Greenland ?policy could upend the transatlantic alliance.
NATO's Rutte: Working on Greenland issue 'behind the scenes'
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says he will not publicly comment on ?the tensions between the United States and its European allies ?over President Donald Trump's Greenland demands, but said that discussions were taking place in private.
"You can be ?assured that I'm working on this issue behind the scenes, but I cannot ?do ?it in public," Rutte said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
He also said "thoughtful diplomacy" was the only way to resolve the dispute.
"President Trump and other leaders are right; we have to do more there," he said. "We have to protect the Arctic against Russian ?and Chinese ?influence. We are working on that [and] making sure that, collectively, we'll defend the Arctic region."
Trump's arrival in Davos delayed due to plane issue
US President Donald Trump's journey to the World Economic Forum in Davos has been delayed due to an electrical problem which forced him to switch planes.
"I believe President Trump ?is ?going to be about three hours late," said US Treasury ?Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.
You can read our rolling updates on the 2026 Davos conference here.
Trump was originally scheduled to give a speech to the annual gathering of the world's economic and political elite at 2:30 p.m. local time, but his address will now be pushed back.
NATO's Rutte: Greenland tensions should not distract from Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned alliance members not to allow tensions over Greenland to take their attention away from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"The ?focus on Ukraine should be the number one priority, ?it is ?crucial for European and US security," Rutte said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
"I am really ?worried that we lose sight and ?that, ?in the meantime, [the] Ukrainians won't have enough interceptor [missiles] to defend themselves."
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor three years and 11 months ago on February 22, 2022, and continues to bombard Ukrainian towns and cities on a nightly basis.
Europe won't be blackmailed over Greenland, says Swedish PM
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he "would not speculate" on whether the NATO alliance has been shattered beyond repair by US President Donald Trump's threats to take over Greenland, but insisted that European allies "will not accept [being] blackmailed" by Washington.
Asked by a journalist on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos whether Sweden regrets abandoning its decades-old policy of neutrality and joining NATO in 2024, Kristersson said: "Absolutely not."
"We are in very good cooperation with 31 allies within NATO, we are [making] great progress, we are being integrated very rapidly and we are already making big efforts to increase NATO's combined capacities in our part of the world," he said, adding that this included a willingness to beef up security in Greenland and across the Arctic.
