US President Donald Trump, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reiterated his intention to seek control over Greenland and, commenting on the topic, said: “I’m just asking for a piece of ice.”
According to Reuters and AP, Trump claimed that the US would not use force to obtain the island, while insisting on the need for negotiations and calling Washington’s request a “small request” in the context of the US’s role in ensuring the security of its allies.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Trump’s statements about a possible change in the island’s status previously provoked a sharp reaction in Europe, where the inadmissibility of a forceful scenario and the importance of respecting sovereignty were emphasized.
The island is interesting for its reserves and prospects for the extraction of critically important minerals, including rare earth elements, which are important for high-tech industries and energy transition.
Greenland is also associated with the planet’s largest reserves of fresh water in the form of ice – together with Antarctica, the ice sheets contain more than 99% of the Earth’s fresh ice.
Its key advantage is its geography: its location on Arctic and North Atlantic routes, including the GIUK (Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom) area, which NATO considers a strategic maritime “corridor” between the Arctic and the Atlantic.
