Prime Minister Mark Carney says the future of Greenland will be "solely" up to the people of Denmark and Greenland.
Carney was reacting to new comments from U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration about his desire to annex Greenland.
"There's basic principles here, which is self-determination of nations, sovereignty, territorial integrity. And then there (are) approaches that we have as partners to what we're trying to accomplish," Carney said during a press conference at the Canadian Embassy in Paris Tuesday.
"As NATO, we can provide security for all of NATO, Greenland included."
The prime minister added that Canada and other NATO members are working to boost Arctic security as the global threat environment changes and as Russia and China make inroads into polar waters.
Carney met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Paris Tuesday morning ahead of a meeting of Ukraine's allies to discuss security guarantees for that country.
Frederiksen thanked Carney for his support and commitment to working together as NATO allies.
"I think we are both very into securing the Arctic region and together with other NATO allies we can secure the region," she said.
Trump openly mused about annexing Greenland on Sunday and on Monday White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Greenland should be part of the U.S., in spite of Frederiksen's warning that a U.S. takeover would spell the end of NATO.
Carney's statement echoed one made in a joint letter issued today by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
