Lithuanian president hopes Greenland's status will be left aside during negotiations

MICKUNAI -With negotiations on Greenland underway, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda hopes that the autonomous island's status will not be touched upon in these talks.

"I do hope that the issue of status will be left aside, but in terms of opportunities for cooperation, both in exploring useful mineral resources and ensuring the much-needed presence of NATO forces in the region, we can definitely move forward in this regard, and I would very much like to see that happen," the president told reporters in Mickunai on Thursday.

"It is somewhat strange that, being in the same NATO organization, we do not want to take responsibility for the Arctic region, Greenland together. It seems to me that these negotiations should be conducted in such a way that we are interested in minimizing the threat from Russia and China in this truly geopolitically sensitive region. And we can certainly do that, but we can do it much more effectively by working together, not individually," he said.

Nauseda also said he had discussed the issue of Greenland with visiting King Frederik X of Denmark.

"Although the king is not directly involved in politics, as a moral authority and a true patriot of his country, he feels the same pain as all Danes that we are in such a difficult situation," the president said.

He once again assured to the monarch of Lithuania's determination to support Denmark's territorial integrity and unity.

"This is a sacred principle for us. We ourselves know very well what occupation, annexation, and the forcible seizure of certain territories mean. This is very painful for us, and our opinion on this matter is absolutely firm and unchanging. With no doubt, the king gratefully accepted our message, and I truly believe that this will also contribute to a stronger mutual understanding, not only in our relations with the royal family, but also in our relations with the Danish government," Nauseda said.

As reported by BNS, negotiations between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland are taking place after US President Donald Trump last week backed down from his threats to use force to take over the autonomous Arctic territory belonging to Denmark, a member of the EU and NATO.

The US leader then announced that he had reached a joint agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.

As part of the compromise with Washington, NATO is expected to strengthen its activities in the Arctic, while Denmark and Greenland could renegotiate the 1951 agreement on the deployment of US troops.