The Hague: For days it seemed there was no way out of the latest standoff between Europe and the United States: US President Donald Trump insisted he must have Greenland — and would settle for nothing short of total ownership.
Even after he dropped the threat of force in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the impasse remained. Enter: Mark Rutte.
The NATO secretary-general may have been instrumental in persuading Trump to scrap the threat of slapping punitive tariffs on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland — a stunning reversal shortly after insisting he wanted to get the island “including right, title and ownership.”
In a post on his social media site, Trump said he had agreed with Rutte on a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, potentially defusing tensions that had far-reaching geopolitical implications.
Little is known about what the agreement entails or how crucial Rutte’s intervention was, and Trump could change course again.agencies