Denmark has demanded that US resource exploration in Greenland respect the islandâÂÂs laws amid President Donald TrumpâÂÂs claim that oil, gas and mineral extraction will soon begin there.
The Danish Foreign Ministry reaffirmed on Wednesday that last monthâÂÂs agreement between Denmark, Greenland and the US did not alter the rules for extraction.
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The agreement âÂÂdoes not grant investors from the US any preferential treatmentâ over investors from other NATO and EU countries when it comes to access to natural resources in Greenland, the ministry said.
In a post on Truth Social, US President Trump called the semi-autonomous Danish territory âÂÂour new and beautiful GreenlandâÂÂ.
âÂÂMassive Oil, Gas, and Mineral Exploration is getting ready to begin,â he wrote, without providing details.
What the deal covers
Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and GreenlandâÂÂs Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the 10-page agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, ending months of tensions over TrumpâÂÂs threats to control Greenland.
The deal allows the US to âÂÂmodernise and expandâ its activities at the Pituffik Space Base, a remote US military installation in northwest Greenland.
It also paved the way for two new military bases and TrumpâÂÂs âÂÂGolden Domeâ missile defence system, while reaffirming Danish sovereignty and Greenlandersâ right to self-determination.
It did not allocate any rights for mining or drilling.
GreenlandâÂÂs ban
Greenland banned uranium mining and all future oil exploration in 2021.
Its government is reviewing whether a Texas firm, Greenland Energy, can use permits that predate the ban.
The company said in August it planned to drill for oil in 2027 at an untested basin on GreenlandâÂÂs east coast, although it lacked its own permit.
Danish security policy adviser Jacob Kaarsbo said TrumpâÂÂs comments could signal that his desire to control Greenland remains unchanged.
âÂÂIt is extremely dangerous to view this agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has altered TrumpâÂÂs intentions,â he said.
Mikkel Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Al Jazeera that details regarding mining and exploration rights remained unclear and that information coming mostly from the US side should be taken âÂÂwith a grain of saltâÂÂ.
Richard Weitz, a fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome, said Trump âÂÂbacked down and settled for lessâ than he sought, but still âÂÂgot pretty much everything he wanted, except formal annexationâÂÂ.