US 'will take Greenland one way or the other'

President Donald Trump urged Greenland to choose to join the United States but vowed to take the Danish-ruled island "one way or the other" - a bid Denmark swiftly rejected yesterday.

"That won't happen," Danish Defence Minister Trouls Lund Poulsen said.

"The direction that Greenland wants to take will be decided by Greenlanders," Lund Poulsen said.

Trump on Tuesday painted a picture of prosperity and safety for the people of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark with an independence movement, which he has said he wants to make a part of the United States.

"We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before," Trump said.

Opinion polls suggest that most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, although a majority favor eventual independence from Denmark, while the Danish government has said the Arctic island must decide its own future and is not for sale.

China and Russia have been stepping up activity in the Arctic as climate change opens further sea routes.

General elections in Greenland - a sparsely populated but mineral-rich and strategically-placed island - are due to take place on Tuesday next week.

Agencies