COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP)—Greenland would choose to remain Danish over a US takeover, its leader said Tuesday, ahead of crunch White House talks on the future of the Arctic island which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened.

Trump has been talking up the idea of buying or annexing the autonomous territory for years, and further stoked tensions this week by saying the United States would take it “one way or the other”.

“We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at a press conference.

“One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”

He was speaking alongside Danish leader Mette Frederiksen, who said it had not been easy to stand up to what she slammed as “completely unacceptable pressure from our closest ally”.

“However, there are many indications that the most challenging part is ahead of us,” Frederiksen said.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt are to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss Greenland’s future.

Lokke said they had requested a meeting with Rubio, and Vance had asked to take part and host it at the White House.

Vance made an uninvited visit to the island in March where he criticised Denmark for what he said was a lack of commitment to Greenland and security in the Arctic, and called it a “bad ally”.

The comments enraged Copenhagen, which has been an ardent trans-Atlantic supporter and which has sent troops to fight US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

– ‘Misunderstandings’ –

For Nuuk and Copenhagen, Wednesday’s meeting at the White House is aimed at ironing out “misunderstandings”.

These relate to Greenland’s defence, Chinese and Russian military presence in the Arctic, and the relationship between Greenland and Copenhagen, which together with the Faroe Islands make up the Kingdom of Denmark.

“To the uninformed American listener, the ongoing (independence) talks between Denmark and Greenland might have been construed as if Greenland’s secession from Denmark was imminent,” said Greenland specialist Mikaela Engell.

For these listeners, “I can understand that, in this situation, it would be better for the Americans to take hold of that strategic place”, the former Danish representative on the island told AFP.

But this “discussion has been going on for years and years and it has never meant that Greenland was on its way out the door”, she stressed.

Denmark’s foreign minister said the reason Copenhagen and Nuuk had requested Wednesday’s meeting was “to move the entire discussion… into a meeting room, where you can look each other in the eye and talk through these issues”.

Greenland’s location is highly strategic, lying on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States. It is therefore a crucial part of the US anti-missile shield.

Washington has accused Copenhagen of doing little to protect Greenland from what it perceives as a growing Arctic threat from Russia and China, though analysts suggest Beijing is a small player in the region.

Denmark’s government has rejected US claims, recalling that it has invested almost 90 billion kroner ($14 billion) to beef up its military presence in the Arctic.

The Danish prime minister on Tuesday called for stronger cooperation with the US and NATO to improve the region’s security.

She also called for NATO to defend Greenland, and said that security guarantees would be “the best defence against Chinese or Russian threats in the Arctic”.

Diplomats at NATO say some Alliance members have floated the idea of launching a new mission in the region, although no concrete proposals are yet on the table.

Rutte said on Monday that NATO was working on “the next steps” to bolster Arctic security.

Greenland’s foreign minister and Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen are to meet NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte on January 19 to discuss the issue.

“We are now moving forward with the whole issue of a more permanent, larger presence in Greenland from the Danish defence forces but also with the participation of other countries,” Lund Poulsen told reporters.