Danes seek Rubio talks

DENMARK and Greenland are seeking a meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio after the Trump administration doubled down on its intention to take over the strategic Arctic island, a Danish territory.

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Tensions escalated after the White House said on Tuesday that the "US military is always an option", even as a series of European leaders rejected President Donald Trump's renewed calls for the US to take over Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned earlier this week that a US takeover would amount to the end of the Nato military alliance. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joined her in a statement on Tuesday reaffirming that the mineral rich island "belongs to its people".