Greenland government: The island is not for sale and we will keep its ownership forever

The Greenland government has announced that bilateral talks with the United States of America to establish a broader strategic partnership are making positive progress, but it has categorically reiterated that the island is not for sale to the United States or any other party.

The announcement came in the context of strengthening diplomatic and economic relations between the two parties, while maintaining the full sovereignty of the geopolitically interesting autonomous island.

U.S. Special Envoy Jeff Landry arrived in Nock on Sunday and met with the island's prime minister, Jens-Fredrik Nielsen, and Foreign Minister Motti Egege on Monday. Trump appointed Landry last year to push for U.S. control of Greenland.

"We believe there is progress, and we are focused on finding a solution that is in the best interest of all of us, and most importantly not carrying out threats to annex, seize or buy Greenland and its people," Nielsen told reporters after meeting with Landry.

There has been no immediate statement from Landry, who told local media on Sunday that he was there to "listen and learn".

Trump's assertion that the United States should acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish region, has sparked tensions between Washington, Copenhagen and across Europe. The United States and Denmark are founding members of NATO.

"They asked for a meeting, we explained to them our situation and our position, that we have some red lines, we will not sell Greenland, we will keep its ownership forever," Egege said.

De-escalation agreement

In an effort to calm tensions, Greenland, Denmark and the United States  agreed earlier in the year to hold high-level diplomatic negotiations to resolve the crisis, but the results of those ongoing talks have yet to be presented.

The United States wants to strengthen its military presence in Greenland and make it part of the  "Golden Dome" defense system that Trump plans to establish to counter nuclear attacks.

The United States currently has one active base in Greenland, the Twick Aerospace in the Northwest, up from  about 17 in 1945 when thousands of U.S. personnel were working at bases around the island.

Greenland Base Monitors Arctic

Greenland, one of the world's richest regions of critical minerals that today has become the basis of advanced defense and technological industries,  is moving aggressively to strengthen its investment presence on the island, in an apparent effort to reduce its dependence on China, which dominates most of the world's rare earth elements extraction and refining.

The importance of these metals is that they are the backbone of sensitive industries including missile guidance systems, drone engines, radars, satellites, and permanent magnets used in the military industry.

With the melting of the ice, which covers 80% of the island's area, huge reserves of uranium, graphite, platinum, nickel, gold and niobium are emerging, as well as promising signs of oil and gas.

The Tanbreeze mine project in the south of the island is one of the most prominent examples of this transformation, as the mine is classified as one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world, and a US company has obtained a majority stake in it with direct financial support from the US Export-Import Bank, in a move that reflects the size of the US bet on the future of resources in Greenland.

Petovic Base American Open Eye

Petovic Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is one of the most important U.S. defense sites in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks to its unique location in northwestern Greenland, which is located within walking distance of the North Pole, giving it exceptional ability to observe the entire polar field.

The base is directly affiliated with the U.S. Space Force, and includes an upgraded early warning radar that forms the first line of defense against a possible launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles from Russia or China, and a  vital tracking station for military satellites in polar orbits, making it an integral part of the U.S. space surveillance network.

Despite harsh weather conditions that seal the area with sea ice for 9 months a year and plunge it into complete darkness during the winter, the base is home to the farthest deep-water seaport to the north, a year-round runway, and advanced infrastructure that supports military and logistical operations in one of the most difficult environments on earth.