NATO talks consider U.S. sovereign bases and mining limits in Greenland

Negotiators have discussed proposals to expand NATO’s presence in the Arctic, grant the United States sovereign control over pockets of land in Greenland and bar non‑NATO countries from mining the island’s minerals, according to eight senior Western security and diplomatic officials.

Denmark has publicly opposed ceding ownership of any Greenlandic territory. The ideas under discussion include a new NATO mission, dubbed “Arctic Sentry,” an updated pact modeled on the 1951 U.S.–Denmark agreement that would create U.S. sovereign base areas similar to Britain’s in Cyprus, and restrictions on Russia and China obtaining mining rights for Greenland’s rare‑earth minerals.

Officials said the proposals would stop short of transferring ownership of all of Greenland and many details remain to be finalized. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens‑Frederik Nielsen, said he was not in favor of giving the United States sovereignty over military bases, saying, “We are ready to discuss a lot of things.

Sovereignty is a red line.” President Trump, speaking in Davos, ruled out using military force to take the island and announced a deal with the Dutch prime minister that led him to call off planned tariffs, but he provided few details. NATO commanders described the work as at an early stage and said they had received no political guidance to begin planning.

Key Topics

World, Greenland, Nato, Denmark, Arctic Sentry, Rare-earth Minerals