US allies won't forget Trump Greenland crisis

Despite talk of a deal over Greenland, it will be hard for US allies to return to business as usual, writes the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent.

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In the wake of a successful military operation in Venezuela earlier this month, a buoyed-up Donald Trump started to ratchet up the rhetoric on Greenland.

Day after day, the world was treated to claims of ownership, threats of military action and tariffs against traditional allies in Europe.

Now, in an apparent puff of smoke, it may all have gone.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, arguably the Trump whisperer-in-chief, seems to have talked the president down from his dangerously high hobby horse.

Watch: Trump takes aim at world leaders in Davos speechThe ground may have been laid last week during a visit to Washington by the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland. The visit concluded with agreement on a "working group" to discuss Greenland's future.

But Rutte appears to have finessed an issue that had threatened to shatter the north Atlantic alliance.

We don't yet know the details of the deal, but many will wonder why it needed a frenetic two-week crisis to get here.

Denmark had long said that it was only too happy to see an increased American military presence on Greenland.

If Nato has now pledged to up its presence on and around the island, then that will go some way towards reassuring Donald Trump that the alliance is finally paying proper attention to Greenland.

The New York Times quotes anonymous officials as saying one idea under discussion is for Denmark to cede sovereignty over small areas of Greenland where the US would build military bases - similar to the arrangement by which the UK maintains sovereign bases on Cyprus.

Watch: How was Trump's Davos speech received?Trump said the deal would involve access to Greenland's mineral resources.

Neither Denmark nor Nato has confirmed these or any other reports.

Nato said discussions would "focus on ensuring Arctic security through the collective efforts, especially the seven Arctic Allies" (the US, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland) a

Source: BBC

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