European leaders struck a clear line on Greenland on Tuesday, pledging a "firm" response to Washington's threats, even as US President Donald Trump said he was ready to hold a meeting in Davos about his plans to take over the autonomous Danish territory.
Leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort united against Trump's increasingly aggressive "America First" agenda, while Greenland's prime minister said his small population of 57,000 should be prepared for military force.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen led the European response, warning that Trump risked plunging US ties with the European Union into a "downward spiral".
French President Emmanuel Macron warned against US efforts to "subdue Europe" and called Trump's threats to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on countries that oppose his plans for Greenland "unacceptable."
Trump had previously insisted that Greenland was “essential” to security. “There can be no going back – On that, everyone agrees!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
The US president, who will deliver a speech at the annual meeting of global elites on Wednesday, has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with his demand to take over Greenland.
Europe is considering countermeasures after he threatened tariffs on eight European countries, although Washington has said any retaliatory tariffs would be "reckless."
Von der Leyen called the tariffs a "mistake," telling the meeting of world business and political leaders that they could start a spiral that would only help Europe's opponents.
"So our response will be steadfast, united and proportionate," she said.
Trump has continued his campaign on Greenland on Truth Social, writing that he had a "very good" phone call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he agreed to meet with "various parties" in Davos on the issue.
Rutte's predecessor, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, warned that the Republican's move on Greenland had sparked the biggest crisis in NATO's history and said the time for "flattering" US leaders was over.
"It is the future of NATO and the future of the world order that are at stake," he told AFP in an interview in Davos.
Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, agreed, saying at a press conference in Nuuk that, while military force was "impossible," it could not be ruled out.
"That's why we have to be prepared for all possibilities, but let's emphasize this: Greenland is part of NATO and, if there were an escalation, this would have consequences for the rest of the world as well."
Trump argues that he wants to protect mineral-rich Greenland from perceived Russian and Chinese threats, although analysts suggest Beijing is a minor player in the region.
EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Greenland on Thursday in Brussels.
Other prominent foreign leaders who addressed the World Trade Forum on Tuesday included Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, whose country is embroiled in a trade war with Trump.
"A select few countries should not have privileges based on self-interest and the world cannot return to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak," he said, without naming any country.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has sought to reduce his country's dependence on the United States in its dispute with Trump over tariffs, will also speak in Davos later on Tuesday.
Carney turned the page on years of diplomatic tensions with China during a visit to Beijing last week, securing a preliminary trade deal to lower tariffs.
Other hot spots on the WEF agenda include the crises in Venezuela, Gaza, Iran and Ukraine.
Europe, which is increasing defense spending to break its security dependence on the United States, still needs Washington's help to end the war in Ukraine and deter the Russian threat to its east.
But President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Tuesday that he feared anger over Greenland could distract attention.
"I am concerned about any loss of focus during a full-scale war," Zelensky told reporters, adding that the two crises should not be seen as "interchangeable."
Macron, who was wearing sunglasses because of a broken blood vessel, sent a message to Trump proposing a G7 summit in Paris on Thursday on Greenland, as well as Ukraine, with Copenhagen, Moscow and Kiev participating.
But he later clarified to AFP that such a meeting had not yet been planned.
The Kremlin said Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev plans to meet with members of the US delegation in Davos — the first to go to the mountain resort since the Russians were excluded from the meeting following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
