Denmark’s prime minister said on Friday she and her Greenlandic counterpart had a constructive meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference over the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

A push by US President Donald Trump for the US to acquire Greenland has prompted severe tensions in recent months within the Nato defence alliance, of which Denmark and the United States are both members.

On January 28, the US, Denmark and the Arctic island nation launched talks as the parties seek to resolve the diplomatic crisis.

“Constructive talk with Secretary of State Marco Rubio together with Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, at the Munich Security Conference,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on X. “Work will continue as agreed in the high-level working group.

Prime Minister Nielsen said on Instagram Greenland’s interests were “again clearly highlighted” in the meeting. “It was emphasised that the talks being held are the right way forward,” he said.

He has previously stated that if Greenlanders were forced to choose between the US and Denmark, they would choose Denmark.

Trump has been citing national security concerns related to Russia and China in connection with his repeated calls for US control over Greenland. Nato this week announced the launch of a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic as part of efforts to defuse tensions.

The president told reporters at the White House on Friday: “I think Greenland’s going to want us, but we get along very well with Europe. We’ll see how it all works out. We’re negotiating right now for Greenland”.