BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticized French defense spending on Monday, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete capabilities. The comments marked the latest crack in relations between the two <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-and-europe-belong-together-rubio" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">European giants</a>. French President Emmanuel Macron &ldquo;repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty,&rdquo; Wadephul told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. &ldquo;Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country.&rdquo; Under US pressure&nbsp;European NATO members are under pressure from the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/rubio-at-munich-security-meet-to-address-europeans-rattled-by-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">United States</a> to build up their defense spending. Though they pledged last June to raise their defense and security-related outlays to five percent of GDP by 2035, Wadephul said progress in Europe so far had been lacking. &quot;Unfortunately, efforts in the French Republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far,&quot; Wadephul said.&nbsp; &quot;France, too, needs to do what we are doing here with difficult discussions.&quot; Germany last year exempted most defense spending from constitutionally enshrined debt limits and current budgets foresee Berlin spending more than 500 billion euros ($593 billion) on defense between 2025 and 2029. Third-highest debt burden&nbsp;Under financial pressure, France has less room for maneuver. The country has the European Union&#39;s third-highest debt burden as a proportion of GDP after Greece and Italy, almost twice the 60-percent ceiling set in EU treaties. France and Macron needed to be ready to take difficult decisions, Wadephul said, including possible welfare cuts, to build the &quot;breathing space needed&quot;. &quot;That is a call that goes out to all European countries,&quot; Wadephul said.&nbsp; &quot;We will have to hold very open, very honest discussions about this here in our European family.&quot; <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Discord over fighter jet&nbsp;</h2>Wadephul&#39;s call comes amid strains in the Franco-German alliance, traditionally the motor of European cooperation. Germany has slapped down Macron&#39;s repeated calls for so-called eurobonds to boost investment, fearing common EU debt would lead to open-ended subsidies of EU member states with weak finances. Wadephul reiterated that Germany was also opposed to the proposal when it comes to defense spending, adding that NATO member states had last year agreed to reach the five-percent spending goal by their own efforts. &quot;We must also say to all our European partners -- in a spirit of friendship but with clarity -- that what was promised, the five per cent, were commitments to national contributions,&quot; he said. &quot;We are looking forward to and eagerly await another speech by the French president, I believe on the 27th of this month, where he will comment on strategic issues,&quot; Wadephul added. Recent disagreements&nbsp;Nerves are also fraying over plans by Paris and Berlin for a next-generation European fighter jet, where German industry and unions have accused French aerospace firm Dassault of seeking to dictate the terms of the project. In other recent disagreements, France wanted to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American countries, backed by Germany.&nbsp; Paris also opposed a push by Berlin and Rome to water down a planned EU ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. A European diplomat last week told AFP that right now &quot;the Franco-German axis isn&#39;t working&quot;.

Europe

European NATO members are under pressure from US to build up their defense spending; in other recent disagreements, France wanted to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American countries, backed by Germany.

German foreign minister slams France over defense spending 

MUNICH: European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-in-kyiv-on-surprise-visit-hours-after-russian-attack" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russia</a> and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent. While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds. US President Donald Trump&#39;s comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection. &quot;Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States,&quot; an expert group warned in a report published for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/field-marshal-asim-munir-meets-us-state-secretary-on-munich-security-conference-sidelines" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Munich Security Conference</a>. It called on Europe to &quot;urgently confront a new nuclear reality&quot; in the face of &quot;Russia&#39;s nuclear-backed revisionism&quot;. Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding &quot;confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence&quot;. Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was &quot;enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France&quot;. Starmer said &quot;any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength&quot; alongside France. US &#39;ultimate guarantor&#39; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that &quot;nobody&quot; was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/keep-dreaming-nato-chief-says-europe-cant-defend-itself-without-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">shielded Europ</a>e&#39;s NATO countries for decades. &quot;I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine,&quot; Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists. &quot;But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States. &quot;Everybody realizes that is the ultimate guarantor &ndash; and all these other discussions are in addition.&quot; US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump &quot;has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here&quot; in Europe. He said there is US &quot;receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent&quot; &ndash; but that conversations need to be &quot;very sober&quot; and &quot;deliberate&quot; because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability. No good options Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries &ndash; but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics. Many European officials are convinced that Moscow&#39;s territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries &ndash; including even NATO members &ndash; could face some sort of attack. The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was &quot;no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe&#39;s nuclear predicament&quot;, they warned. &quot;The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended,&quot; wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers &quot;to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of the continent directly and without delay &ndash; and to invest the resources needed to do so competently&quot;. It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-says-conducted-joint-strike-with-france-on-is-site-near-palmyra" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">British and French</a> nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent. Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America&#39;s unmatched military might, remained &quot;the most credible and feasible option&quot; in the short term, they argued. &#39;We need action&#39; Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term. &quot;If there&#39;s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrence, that&#39;s only a good thing,&quot; Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP. But he quickly added: &quot;If you&#39;re talking about to compensate <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/meta-partners-with-us-nuclear-companies-to-power-ai-data-centers" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US nuclear</a> deterrence, that&#39;s not realistic at this point.&quot; Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners. &quot;That&#39;s very positive, but now we need action,&quot; Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP. The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe &ndash; from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France&#39;s nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February. Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include &quot;special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries&quot;.

Polish PM Donald Tusk, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger give a press statement at the Munich Residence palace, prior to the traditional dinner on the oc

Americas

European leaders at the Munich Security Conference debated strengthening the continent’s nuclear deterrence amid concerns over Russia’s aggression and uncertainty about long-term US security commitments to NATO allies.

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace at Munich Security Conference  

Web Desk

KYIV: NATO chief Mark Rutte was in&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">Kyiv&nbsp;on Tuesday for a surprise visit just hours after Russia launched its largest drone and missile attack so far this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of the pair laying flowers at a memorial in central Kyiv to soldiers killed in the Russian invasion. This is a developing story. Please refresh the page to see updated information as it becomes available.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posts a video of the pair laying flowers at a memorial in central Kyiv to soldiers killed in the Russian invasion.

NATO chief in Kyiv on surprise visit hours after Russian attack

BRUSSELS:&nbsp;Denmark&#39;s foreign minister said Thursday he was &ldquo;more optimistic&rdquo; after technical talks kicked off with the United States over Greenland. &quot;We have had the very first meeting at senior official level in Washington yesterday regarding the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greenland-dispute-strategic-wakeup-call-for-all-of-europe-says-macron" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greenlandic </a>issue,&quot; Lars Lokke Rasmussen told journalists at an EU meeting in Brussels. &quot;It went well in a very constructive atmosphere and tone, and new meetings are planned. It&#39;s not that things are solved, but it&#39;s good.&quot;&nbsp;Trilateral talksThe trilateral talks come after US President Donald Trump last week backed down from his threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory of EU and NATO member Denmark. &ldquo;There was a major detour. Things were escalating, but now we are back on track,&rdquo; Rasmussen said.&nbsp; &ldquo;I&#39;m slightly more optimistic today than a week ago.&rdquo; Trump&#39;s threats over <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/penguins-memes-and-greenland-trumps-viral-post-breaks-the-internet" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greenland </a>plunged the transatlantic alliance into its deepest crisis in years. The US leader backed off his desire to take control of Greenland after saying he had struck a &ldquo;framework&rdquo; deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence. 1951 treaty&nbsp;But few concrete details appear to have been agreed -- with authorities in Denmark and Greenland refusing to discuss handing over any sovereignty. &ldquo;I have stated on many occasions, we, of course, share the US security concerns regarding the Arctic, this is something we want to solve in close cooperation,&rdquo; Rasmussen said. As part of the compromise with Washington NATO is expected to bolster its activities in the Arctic, while <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greenland-denmark-set-aside-troubled-history-to-face-down-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Denmark </a>and Greenland could renegotiate a 1951 treaty on US troop deployments.

The trilateral talks come after US President Donald Trump last week backed down from his threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory of EU and NATO member Denmark.

Denmark hails 'very constructive' meeting with US over Greenland

BRUSSELS: NATO chief <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-cannot-negotiate-for-denmark-on-greenland-danish-govt" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Rutte</a>&nbsp;warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-leaders-take-stage-in-davos-as-trump-rocks-global-order" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Danish territory </a>-- before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.&nbsp;The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.&nbsp;&quot;If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US -- keep on dreaming. You can&#39;t,&quot; Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.&nbsp;He said that EU countries would have to double defence spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend &quot;billions and billions&quot; on building nuclear arms.&nbsp;&quot;You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,&quot; Rutte said. &quot;So hey, good luck.&quot;&nbsp;The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO&#39;s Article Five mutual defence clause remained &quot;total&quot;, but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.&nbsp;&quot;They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defence spending.&nbsp;He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU&#39;s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defence force that could replace US troops on the continent.&nbsp;&quot;It will make things more complicated. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will love it. So think again,&quot; Rutte said.&nbsp;On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would &quot;take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic&quot;, but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.&nbsp;&quot;I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn&#39;t, and I will not,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.&nbsp;&quot;For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.&quot;

Mark Rutte warns Europe cannot defend itself without the US, dismissing calls for strategic autonomy. He urged defence spending, reaffirmed NATO’s nuclear umbrella and Article Five, rejected a European army, and said Washington remains committed.

'Keep dreaming': NATO chief says Europe can't defend itself without US

COPENHAGEN: NATO chief Mark Rutte cannot negotiate on behalf of Denmark over Greenland, the Danish government said Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump announced a deal following talks between the two men.&nbsp;Trump backed down on threats to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trumps-plane-returns-to-air-base-after-minor-electrical-issue-white-house" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">seize</a>&nbsp;Greenland by force after meeting Rutte on Wednesday, saying he had reached a &quot;framework&quot; of a deal on the Danish autonomous territory.&nbsp;Details of the agreement made at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos remain scant.&nbsp;&quot;The position of Denmark and that of Greenland are the same, and no negotiations were held yesterday with NATO about our sovereignty,&quot; Denmark&#39;s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish television.&nbsp;&quot;Of course, it is only Denmark and Greenland themselves that can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland,&quot; she said earlier in a statement.&nbsp;The United States and Denmark will renegotiate a 1951 defence pact on Greenland, a source familiar with the talks between Trump and Rutte told AFP on Thursday.&nbsp;Putting US military bases on Greenland under US sovereignty had not been discussed during the talks, the source said.&nbsp;Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on social media Thursday that Rutte &quot;cannot negotiate an agreement on behalf of Denmark or Greenland&quot;.&nbsp;However, he said Rutte had &quot;worked loyally to maintain unity within NATO,&quot; and it was &quot;very positive&quot; that the alliance wanted to do more to strengthen Arctic security.&nbsp;&quot;We have a clear red line,&quot; he added. &quot;We will not cede sovereignty over parts of the kingdom.&quot;

Denmark rejected claims of a Greenland deal, saying NATO chief Mark Rutte cannot negotiate sovereignty. After Trump's talk, Copenhagen said only Denmark and Greenland can decide, and that no negotiations were held with NATO.

NATO chief cannot negotiate for Denmark on Greenland: Danish govt

DAVOS: US President Donald Trump will show off his new &quot;Board of Peace&quot; and meet Ukraine&#39;s leader at Davos on Thursday, a day after backing off his own threats against Greenland. Trump abruptly announced on Wednesday that he was scrapping tariffs against Europe and ruling out military action to take Greenland from Denmark, partially defusing a crisis that had shaken the meeting of global elites. &lsquo;Board of Peace&rsquo;&nbsp;On his second day at the Swiss ski resort, Trump will seek to promote the &quot;Board of Peace&quot;, his controversial body for resolving international conflicts, with a signing ceremony for the organization&#39;s charter. The board boasts a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership, and Trump has invited leaders including Russia&#39;s Vladimir Putin, Israel&#39;s Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hungary&#39;s Viktor Orban to join. &quot;I think it&#39;s the greatest board ever formed,&quot; Trump said Wednesday as he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, another of the leaders who have agreed to join. Originally meant to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, the board&#39;s charter does not limit its role to the Strip and has sparked concerns that Trump wants it to rival the United Nations. Key US allies, including France and Britain, have expressed skepticism, but others have signed up, particularly in the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia and Qatar have agreed to join. About 35&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-accepts-us-invitation-to-join-gaza-board-of-peace" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">world leaders</a>&nbsp;have committed so far out of the 50 or so invitations that went out, a senior Trump administration official told reporters on Wednesday. Kremlin studying invite&nbsp;Trump also said on Wednesday that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-putin-accepted-to-join-his-board-of-peace" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Putin had agreed to join</a>&nbsp;-- despite the Kremlin so far saying it was still studying the invite. The inclusion of Russian President Putin has caused particular concern among US allies, but especially in Ukraine, as it seeks an end to Moscow&#39;s nearly four-year-old invasion. Trump said he was due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the &ldquo;Board of Peace&rdquo; meeting, as difficult negotiations for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war continue. &lsquo;Stupid&rsquo; not to reach a deal &nbsp;At Davos on Wednesday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine would be &quot;stupid&quot; not to reach a peace deal in the conflict that he said he could solve within a day of taking office a year ago. Trump repeated his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal, although he has veered between blaming one or the other for the lack of a ceasefire so far. &quot;I believe they&#39;re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don&#39;t, they&#39;re stupid -- that goes for both of them,&quot; said the US president. Witkoff to visit Moscow&nbsp;Trump has long been a skeptic of US support for Ukraine and says that it is now up to NATO and Europe to back Kyiv.&nbsp; But his belief that he has a personal connection with Putin has not brought an end to the war so far. The US leader&#39;s roving special envoy, businessman Steve Witkoff, is set to travel to Moscow from Davos with Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and hold talks with Putin on Thursday. Zelensky has meanwhile voiced fears that Trump&#39;s push to seize Greenland could divert focus away from Russia&#39;s invasion of his country. &lsquo;Framework of a future deal&rsquo;Trump, however, said late Wednesday he had reached a &ldquo;framework of a future deal&rdquo; after meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte, and that he would therefore waive tariffs scheduled to hit European allies on February 1. Rutte told AFP in Davos that the meeting had been &quot;very good&quot; but that there was &quot;still a lot of work to be done&quot; on Greenland. Trump insists the mineral-rich Arctic island is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China.

Middle East

About 35 world leaders have committed so far out of the 50 or so invitations that went out, a senior Trump administration official told reporters on Wednesday; the board boasts a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.

Trump to unveil 'Board of Peace' at Davos 

DAVOS: US President Donald Trump arrives in Davos for a showdown with European leaders on Wednesday as his bid to seize Greenland threatens to tear the transatlantic alliance apart.&nbsp;Trump mocked the Europeans a day before heading to the World Economic Forum, where he will be the star of a dark, self-made drama over the fate of the autonomous Danish territory.&nbsp;But leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort have closed ranks against Trump&#39;s aggressive stance, with French President Emmanuel Macron vowing to stand up against &quot;bullies&quot; and the EU promising an &quot;unflinching&quot; response.&nbsp;Asked how far he was prepared to go to<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-leaders-take-stage-in-davos-as-trump-rocks-global-order" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">acquire Greenland</a>&nbsp;from Denmark, a fellow NATO member, Trump told reporters: &quot;You&#39;ll find out.&quot;&nbsp;Later, as he left the White House, the president admitted he had &quot;no idea&quot; how the trip to Davos would pan out.&nbsp;It got off to an inauspicious start when a &quot;minor electrical issue&quot; forced his presidential jet to turn back shortly after takeoff, and Trump and his entourage had to switch to another plane.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s eagerly awaited speech at the annual gathering of the world&#39;s economic and political elite, which he is attending for the first time in six years, is scheduled for 2:30 pm (1330 GMT).&nbsp;But as the biggest rift opens between Washington and Europe in decades over his Greenland ambitions, Trump said he would have a number of meetings on the issue at Davos. &lsquo;Downward spiral&rsquo;Trump insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.&nbsp;He has turned up the pressure by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-also-has-a-lot-to-lose-from-threatened-tariffs-french-minister" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatening tariffs</a>&nbsp;of up to 25% on eight European countries for backing Denmark, prompting Europe to threaten countermeasures against the United States.&nbsp;Trump dismissed European threats to fire a trade &quot;bazooka&quot; at the United States.&nbsp;&quot;Anything they do with us...all I have to do is meet it, and it&#39;s going to go ricocheting backwards,&quot; he said in an interview with News Nation.&nbsp;&quot;But we&#39;re not looking into that. We&#39;ll probably be able to work something out, possibly even during the next few days,&quot; he added.&nbsp;At Davos on Tuesday, Macron, in sunglasses because of a burst blood vessel, warned against US attempts to &quot;subordinate Europe&quot;, and blasted Trump&#39;s tariff threats as &quot;unacceptable.&quot;&nbsp;Macron was the subject of Trump&#39;s mockery as he publicly revealed a text message from the French leader proposing a G7 summit in Paris on Thursday, on Greenland, as well as on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/macron-says-kyiv-allies-to-meet-in-paris-early-january" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukraine</a>.&nbsp;Trump later said he would not join any such meeting, while Macron clarified to AFP that no gathering was scheduled.&nbsp;European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, warned that Trump risked plunging US ties with the European Union into a &quot;downward spiral&quot;.&nbsp;And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has sought to reduce his own country&#39;s dependence on Washington since Trump called for it to become the 51st US state, won a standing ovation at Davos for his stance.&nbsp;&quot;Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark,&quot; Carney said.&nbsp;In his Davos speech, the White House said Trump wanted to focus on the US economy amid a cost-of-living crisis that threatens his Republicans in the 2026 midterms.&nbsp;But the US president&#39;s extraordinary assertion of US power on the world stage one year into his second term, means Greenland will form the backdrop to the address.&nbsp;&#39;End of NATO&#39;Greenland&#39;s prime minister said on Tuesday his tiny population of 57,000 must be prepared for military force.&nbsp;Lithuania&#39;s President Gitanas Nauseda told AFP at Davos that any such move by the United States against a fellow ally &quot;would be the end of NATO.&quot;&nbsp;Trump said he had done &quot;more for NATO than anyone&quot; and questioned whether allies would help the United States &mdash; even though Denmark was among those who did after the September 11, 2001 attacks.&nbsp;On Thursday, meanwhile, Trump is set to formally announce the first charter of his so-called &quot;Board of Peace,&quot; a body for resolving international conflicts with a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.&nbsp;The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but a draft of the charter seen by AFP does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Insists mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.

Trump arrives in Davos amid Greenland tensions

PARIS: The United States would also suffer if President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-warns-against-trumps-tariffs-threat-over-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">impose tariffs</a> implements threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, a French minister said on Sunday. &ldquo;In this escalation of tariffs, he has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists,&rdquo; French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews. Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff from Feb. 1 on all goods sent to the United States from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. All are part of the European Union, except the United Kingdom and Norway. That levy would then be increased to 25 percent on June 1 &ldquo;until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland,&rdquo; said Trump, who claims the United States needs the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory, for its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-us-needs-greenland-for-national-security" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">national security</a>. An extraordinary meeting of European Union ambassadors was called in Brussels for Sunday afternoon. &ldquo;The European Union has potential strike force&rdquo; from a commercial standpoint, Genevard said. &ldquo;This is a response that must be handled with caution, because this escalation could be deadly &mdash; but it could also be deadly for the United States.&rdquo; Any US takeover of Greenland would be &ldquo;unacceptable,&rdquo; the minister added. &ldquo;It is clear that the Europeans will not let the United States do as it pleases.&rdquo;

France's Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard answers journalists' questions after attending an inspection of imported foodstuffs at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris, on January 15, 2026 (AFP)

Trump threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on European imports, warning of a 10 percent levy from Feb. 1 that would rise to 25 percent by June unless a deal is reached over Greenland.

Trump also 'has a lot to lose' from threatened tariffs: French minister

PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated his quest to acquire Greenland, threatening multiple <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greenlanders-put-faith-in-europes-troops-and-us-congress" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">European nations with tariffs </a>of up to 25 percent until his purchase of the Danish territory is achieved.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s threats came as thousands of people protested in the capital of Greenland against his wish to acquire the mineral-rich island at the gateway to the Arctic.&nbsp;Thousands more protested in Copenhagen and other Danish cities.&nbsp;The US president aimed his ire at Denmark, a fellow NATO member, as well as several European countries that have deployed troops in recent days to the vast autonomous territory with a population of 57,000.&nbsp;If realized, Trump&#39;s threats against Washington&#39;s NATO partners would create unprecedented tension within the alliance.&nbsp;From February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.&nbsp;&quot;On June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25%. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,&quot; he wrote.&nbsp;&quot;These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,&quot; Trump said.&nbsp;&quot;Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-us-needs-greenland-for-national-security" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Peace and Security</a>, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question.&quot;&nbsp;Trump added that he was &quot;immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries.&quot;&nbsp;Make America Go Away&nbsp;In Nuuk, thousands of people, including the territory&#39;s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, waved Greenlandic flags, chanted slogans and sang traditional Inuit songs under light rain.&nbsp;Many wore caps with the words &quot;Make America Go Away&quot; -- a riff on Trump&#39;s &quot;Make America Great Again&quot; slogan.&nbsp;&quot;We don&#39;t want Trump invading Greenland, that is the message,&quot; 44-year-old nurse Paarniq Larsen Strum said at the Nuuk rally, calling the situation &quot;nerve-wracking.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;We demand respect for our country&#39;s right to self-determination and for us as a people,&quot; added protest organizer Avijaja Rosing-Olsen.&nbsp;In Copenhagen, charity worker Kirsten Hjoernholm, 52, said it was important to show unity with Greenlanders.&nbsp;&quot;You cannot be bullied by an ally. It&#39;s about international law,&quot; she said.&nbsp;Around her, demonstrators waved the flags of Denmark and Greenland while chanting &quot;Kalaallit Nunaat!&quot; -- the vast Arctic island&#39;s name in Greenlandic.&nbsp;Some also held placards saying &quot;USA already has too much ICE,&quot; referring to Trump&#39;s deployment of federal immigration officers in US cities, while others chanted &quot;Greenland is not for sale.&quot;&nbsp;US &#39;security&#39; claimsTrump has repeatedly claimed that the United States needs Greenland for US &quot;national security.&quot; He also claims that Denmark is incapable of ensuring the territory&#39;s security, notably from China and Russia.&nbsp;France said the military exercise in Greenland was designed to show the world that they will defend the territory.&nbsp;Denmark said the US had been invited to join the drill.&nbsp;It was not immediately clear what authority the US president would invoke to impose the threatened tariffs of up to 25 percent.&nbsp;Since returning to the presidency, Trump has unleashed sweeping tariffs on goods from virtually all trading partners, to address what Washington says are unfair trade practices and as a tool to press governments on US concerns.&nbsp;Washington and the European Union struck a deal last summer to lower US tariffs on key European goods, with the deal currently being implemented.&nbsp;Also on Saturday, a delegation of US lawmakers were wrapping up a visit to Copenhagen for talks with Greenlandic and Danish politicians.&nbsp;The group, led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, told reporters that Trump&#39;s stance was misguided and not backed by the majority of Americans.&nbsp;It is also roundly rejected by Greenlanders, 85 percent of whom -- according to the latest poll published in January 2025 -- oppose the territory joining the United States. Only six percent were in favor.

Trump escalated his push to buy Greenland, threatening up to 25% tariffs on Denmark and European allies, sparking mass protests in Greenland and Denmark and raising unprecedented tensions within NATO over sovereignty and security concerns.

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