Starmer ‘reiterates’ Greenland position with Danish PM and speaks again to Trump

Sir Keir Starmer “reiterated his position” on Greenland in a call with Denmark’s leader and spoke again to Donald Trump amid continued threats from Washington to take over the territory.

US officials have said they could use “military means” to “acquire” the semi-autonomous Danish territory, which President Trump claims is vital for national security.

Sir Keir has said Greenland’s future must be a matter for the people of the territory and Denmark alone, including in a phone call with Mr Trump on Wednesday described by Downing Street sources as “positive” and “friendly”.

In a second conversation on Thursday, they discussed deterring Russia in the High North, which includes Greenland.

The Prime Minister said that though European allies had stepped up in recent months to defend Euro-Atlantic interests, “more could be done to protect the area”, according to a No 10 readout.

Sir Keir also spoke to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Thursday afternoon.

“Turning to Denmark, the Prime Minister reiterated his position on Greenland,” Downing Street said.

“Both leaders agreed on the importance of deterring Russian aggression in the High North and that Nato should step up in the area to protect Euro-Atlantic interests.”

He also spoke to Nato chief Mark Rutte.

Earlier this week, the UK and European allies pledged they would “not stop defending” Greenland’s territorial integrity in a joint statement seen as a message to the US.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy meanwhile met US vice president JD Vance in Washington and discussed Ukraine, Venezuela and Greenland.

They were expected to continue discussions over dinner at the British Embassy.

It was part of Mr Lammy’s visit to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of the US’s declaration of independence from Britain.

The two men are long-standing friends, and Mr Lammy hosted Mr Vance and his family last year at Chevening, his grace-and-favour house in Kent.

In comments at the White House on Thursday, Mr Vance said his advice to European leaders was to take Mr Trump seriously on Greenland.

'Hostile adversaries'

Mr Vance said Mr Trump had underscored the importance of Greenland to the world’s missile defence and that there are “hostile adversaries” showing a lot of interest in the territory.

He added: “So what we’re asking our European friends to do is take the security of that land mass more seriously, because if they’re not, the United States is going to have to do something about it.

“What that is, I’ll leave that to the president, as we continue to engage in diplomacy with our European friends and everybody on this particular topic.”

At home, Sir Keir has faced calls to rule out allowing the US to use British bases to support an attack on Greenland.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called on the Prime Minister to rule out British support for such action, saying the UK “must never play midwife to American aggression directed against our Nato allies”.

He said he was “deeply concerned” that Sir Keir was yet to rule out the use of British bases, and said the Prime Minister should “spell out to Trump and his lawless cabinet that the UK will never support such a dangerous act”.

Sir Ed’s comments come a day after UK bases and military personnel supported a US operation to seize an oil tanker in the Atlantic, said to be part of a “shadow fleet” seeking to evade sanctions on Iranian oil.

Downing Street declined to comment on Sir Ed’s demand, saying it was “slightly hypothetical”, but added the Prime Minister had set out his position on Greenland “very clearly”.

Ally

Cabinet ministers have said the US remains a reliable ally despite fears that a move against Greenland would spell the end of the Nato alliance.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told broadcasters on Thursday that the US was “a close and very trusted partner of our nation”.

Her Cabinet colleague Pat McFadden said: “The United States is a reliable ally. We believe that to be the case, we see that every day.”