Liberal Democrats dismiss accord as ‘pretend’ victory

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has welcomed a US-Denmark agreement to “strengthen security in the Arctic” after the two countries resolved a months-long feud over Greenland, according to a Downing Street readout.

Burnham and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen spoke by phone on Sunday morning, according to the Downing Street readout. No 10 said Burnham “congratulated Prime Minister Frederiksen and the Kingdom of Denmark on negotiating a deal benefiting the US, Greenland and Denmark, and said he would pass on his congratulations to President Trump.”

Burnham’s comments come as he is expected to meet Trump for the first time at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week. No 10 said Burnham intended to use the UNGA to “drive forward work on issues that matter to people at home,” including the cost of living and the war in Ukraine. Burnham has spoken to Trump at least twice since entering Downing Street.

NATO previously said the agreement would help stabilise the region, while Trump declared Denmark would grant the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs” in the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic.

The agreement follows months of threats by Trump to “take” Greenland over national security concerns, citing its strategic Arctic location for defence purposes as well as its mineral wealth. Trump had argued Greenland was vulnerable to adversaries including Russia and China.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey struck a sharply different note at his party’s conference, dismissing the outcome as a “pretend” victory. “Donald Trump is trying to claim he’s got a success in Greenland, but actually, all he’s got is almost a carbon copy of the agreement that’s persisted since the 1950s,” Davey said during a Q&A. “So let Donald Trump try to pretend he’s had a victory. The truth is, Europe, Nato, countries like Canada stood up to him and won.”

Greenlanders protested against Trump’s ambitions for the territory in the country’s capital Nuuk earlier this year.

No text of the agreement has been released. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the deal came with “no cost to the United States” and meant it could “do what is necessary” to “secure and defend the security of Greenland.” Trump said the agreement included a rule that no US adversary could maintain a military presence in Greenland or “make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval.”

The Downing Street readout said Burnham and Frederiksen “welcomed the US’s commitment to the region and underlined the strategic and shared importance of the High North for Euro-Atlantic security.”

Frederiksen said she was “pleased that there is a prospect of a good agreement” for all three parties, which was expected to be signed at the UN General Assembly next week. In a joint statement with Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Frederiksen said the deal “strengthens our common security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area” while recognizing “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination.”

The joint statement noted the agreement would still need to go through “the necessary parliamentary procedures to enter into force” once signed.