NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte mentioned Thursday that US possession of Greenland “didn’t come up” throughout his assembly with Donald Trump in Davos – and he doesn’t see the US president’s new place as a “U-turn.”
“We didn’t discuss it,” Rutte mentioned in an interview with Sky News on Thursday. “Didn’t come up last night.”
“What I can say is that we discussed on what is his idea, his vision,” Rutte mentioned, claiming that he and Trump targeted on how NATO can “save the Arctic from the Russians and the Chinese.”
After his assembly with Rutte on Wednesday, Trump declared on Truth Social that he would chorus from an earlier menace to tariff European nations for standing in the way in which of a US takeover of Greenland.
The NATO chief additionally advised Sky News that he doesn’t see the president’s new place as a “U-turn.”
“I don’t think there’s a U-turn,” Rutte mentioned, explaining that Trump “started to focus European and Canadian allies on the Arctic, Greenland, but also the wider Arctic” throughout his first time period.
“And then when he came back into office, he again said, ‘hey, it’s still not solved to a sufficient level,’” Rutte added. “And he is right.”
Asked by Sky whether or not the consternation brought on by Trump’s Greenland feedback amounted to a distraction for NATO allies, Rutte disagreed, even crediting Trump with “saving NATO.”
“I think he was right to get that debate going on,” Rutte mentioned. “How can we protect the Arctic? How can we make sure that the Arctic is safe? And I would argue that after saving NATO, he is now the one who has led the charge to make sure that collectively, we will save the Arctic region.”