Sombre mood suggests little has changed over Greenland tensionpublished at 19:46 GMT
19:46 GMT
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor
The mood conveyed by the Danish and Greenland ministers just a few minutes ago was as sombre as it was serious. When a highly experienced diplomat like Lars Løkke Rasmussen says talks have been “frank and constructive” that usually means some hard truths were exchanged with the other side and little has changed.
He and Vivian Motzfeldt did their best to see the positive side after their talks at the White House, but the most they could offer was an agreement to form a working group that will meet in the coming weeks. “We agreed to disagree,” said Rasmussen, who saw the meeting as a chance to take down the temperature after 13 months of tensions.
Greenland’s foreign minister didn’t say much, but what she said was poignant, first in Greenlandic and then in English.
For the people of Greenland, Trump’s desire to own their territory is painful and she knew her audience back at home was waiting for news.
“We have history together,” said Vivian Motzfeldt. “It’s in all our interests to find the right path.” At one point she struggled to find the right word in English. The most important thing, she said, was to find that “normalised relationship we used to have”.
Rasmussen is a former Danish prime minister and one of his country’s foremost statesmen. His solemn remarks suggest he and Motzfeldt have done little to sway their White House hosts.