“It begins today and it will be a regular process,” Rubio told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, referring to the newly formed working group.
“We’re going to try to do it in a way that isn’t like a media circus … because we think that creates more flexibility on both sides to arrive at a positive outcome," he added.
According to Denmark’s foreign ministry, the talks focused on “how we can address US concerns about security in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom,” a reference to Greenland’s sovereignty.
Rubio said he was confident the parties were “going to wind up in a good place” and expected similar optimism from European partners.
He did not elaborate on the talks’ scope but noted that President Donald Trump had ruled out using force to obtain Greenland.
Recent reporting has indicated that the agreement may involve expanded NATO activity in the Arctic, access to mineral deposits and potential land acquisitions for US military bases.
During the same hearing, Rubio pushed back against criticism from Democrats that the Trump administration was weakening NATO. He argued that the alliance must be “reimagined” due to imbalances in defense investment.
“One of the things we’ve explained to our allies in NATO is the United States is not simply focused on Europe,” he said. “We also have defense needs in the Western Hemisphere. We have defense needs in the Indo-Pacific. We may be the richest country in the world, but we don’t have unlimited resources.”
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP, Associated Press