DENMARK READY TO DEFEND ITS TERRITORY

ANKARA, JULY 8 /SRNA/ – Denmark is prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory, including its own, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump again said that Greenland should be controlled by the United States.

"We are ready to defend our own territory. Of course, we will defend the Kingdom of Denmark," Frederiksen said, reiterating that Greenland is not for sale.

She reminded that one of the reasons NATO was established many years ago was that all member states should stand up for one another.

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also rejected Trump's remarks, stressing that Greenland is not for sale.

Trump's statements that the United States must acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, have strained relations between Washington and Copenhagen, as well as US relations with Europe more broadly. The issue is now the subject of negotiations.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen specifically told reporters in Ankara that Denmark continues to hold diplomatic talks with Greenland and the United States. The outcome of those discussions has yet to be presented.