Denmark will oppose any claims for Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loke Rasminn said today following his meeting with his US counterpart Marko Rubio in Brussels.

At the start of their meeting, Rubio and Rasmusen, they exchanged handshakes and smiles in front of the press representatives, but did not make statements to the journalists.

“Foreign Minister Rubio reaffirmed strong ties between the US and its kingdom Danias“, Said State Department spokesman Tami Bruce after the Rubio-Rasmussen meeting on the sidelines of the NATO member states. The statement by the US Foreign Ministry spokesman does not refer to Greenland, which is a source of tension in Washington’s relations with Copenhagen, while noting that the two countries’ Foreign Ministry discussed “common priorities, such as the increase in defense spending and the rise in and China“

Following his return to the White House, President Trump has repeatedly expressed his strong desire to annex Greenland, arguing that the island is vital to US national security.

Last Friday, US Vice President Jay Di Vance visited a US military base in Greenland, where he criticized Copenhagen that he “has not done a good job” on this Arctic island.

Greenland is a former Denmark colony to which it belongs since 1953. In 1979 it gained some autonomy and then the first parliamentary elections on the island were held, but Copenhagen continues to define its foreign policy, defense and monetary policy of Greenland. In 2009, Greenland won the right to declare complete independence after a referendum, but it has not done so as it worries that the standard of living of its inhabitants will get worse.