Vance scolds Denmark during Greenland trip

US Vice-President JD Vance has accused Denmark of leaving Greenland susceptible to alleged incursions by China and Russia, as helium urged its people to "partner" with the US.

Speaking during a sojourn to the Arctic island, Vance said helium hoped Greenlanders would ballot for independency from Denmark, which helium said had not invested capable to support the semi-autonomous territory.

Vance's claims that its state Denmark had "not done a bully job" successful protecting Greenland travel aft repeated US threats to instrumentality implicit the island.

An overwhelming majority of Greenlander reason the thought of annexation, a canvass indicated successful January. Greenland's premier curate has said the US visit showed a "lack of respect".

And Denmark's King Frederik besides rejected the US plan.

"We live in an altered reality," said the monarch connected societal media connected Friday. 

"There should be no doubt that my emotion for Greenland and my connectedness to the radical of Greenland are intact."

On Friday's sojourn to Pituffik Space Base, a rocket defence installation in the remote north of the island, Vance told a news conference that Russia, China and other nations were taking an "extraordinary interest" in routes and minerals successful the region.

The land of 57,000 radical is believed to clasp monolithic untapped mineral and lipid reserves.

The vice-president said the US did not have immediate plans to expand the American military presence on the ground, but would put much resources, including naval ships and subject icebreakers.

"Our message to Denmark is very simple," Vance said.

"You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass."

He besides said Denmark had failed to "keep the radical of Greenland harmless from a batch of precise assertive incursions from Russia, from China, and different nations", without providing further details.

The vice-president said the people of Greenland would person "self-determination" and the US would respect its sovereignty.

"We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, due to the fact that we're the lone federation connected Earth that volition respect their sovereignty and respect their security, due to the fact that their information is precise overmuch our security," helium said.

Vance was joined by his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, US nationalist information advisor Mike Waltz, and vigor caput Chris Wright.

The outside temperature at Pituffik was -3F (-19 C).

The US 2nd woman had primitively been owed to question to Greenland conscionable with her lad to be a dogsled contention successful the municipality of Sisimiut.

But aft several protests were scheduled, the visit to Sisimiut was cancelled and replaced with conscionable the stop at the military base.

Back astatine the White House, President Donald Trump insisted the US needed Greenland to warrant "peace of the full world" and that its waterways had "Chinese and Russian ships each implicit the place".

"We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security," helium said.

"We have to have Greenland. It's not a question of: 'Do you deliberation we tin bash without it?' We can't."

He said Denmark and the European Union understood the concern "and if they don't, we're going to person to explicate it to them".

In a connection to the BBC, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took contented with Vance's comments.

"For galore years we person stood broadside by broadside with the Americans successful precise hard situations," she said. "Therefore, it is not an close mode for the vice-president to notation to Denmark."

She said Denmark had importantly accrued defence spending, but would further boost its concern with much surveillance, caller Arctic ships, long-range drones and outer capacity.

"We are acceptable – time and nighttime – to co-operate with the Americans," she said. "A practice that indispensable beryllium based connected the indispensable planetary rules of the game."

Greenland's caller premier minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said anterior to Vance's sojourn that it showed "a deficiency of respect for the Greenlandic people".

In Greenland's superior of Nuuk, immoderate radical the BBC spoke to were not won implicit by the US overtures.

At a taste centre successful the city, creator Karline Poulsen said: "There are galore ways to accidental things. But I deliberation the mode President Trump is saying it is not the way."

A pistillate who gave her sanction lone arsenic Nina said: "I'm acrophobic [about the visit]. This is benignant of odd, I don't similar it."

Her daughter, Anita, said the sojourn has caused "a batch of uncertainty and a batch of radical are worried".

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he considered Trump's plans for Greenland "serious".

He expressed interest that "Nato countries, successful general, are progressively designating the Far North arsenic a springboard for imaginable conflicts".