STORY: Greenlanders said on Tuesday (January 13) they hoped for a diplomatic solution ahead of Wednesday’s meeting in Washington between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Pensioner Charlotte Heilmann said she could not understand why Trump “keeps wanting to take us”.

Juno Berthelsen, a member of parliament for Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland's independence, welcomed the talks in Washington.

Trump has said Greenland is vital to U.S. security and the United States must own it to prevent Russia or China occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich territory in the future.

White House officials have been discussing various plans to bring Greenland under U.S. control, including potential use of the U.S. military and lump-sum payments to Greenlanders as part of a bid to convince them to secede from Denmark.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, had requested a meeting with Rubio after Trump's threats.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: INTERVIEW WITH GREENLANDIC MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, NUUK CITY CENTRE, U.S. CONSULATE, ARCTIC COMMAND

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: NUUK, GREENLAND (JANUARY 13, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

1. TRAFFIC IN STREET

2. TRACTOR CLEANING STREET FROM SNOW

3. TRAFFIC

4. GRAFFITI ON WALL

5. PENSIONER, CHARLOTTE HEILMANN, WALKING

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Danish) PENSIONER, CHARLOTTE HEILMANN, SAYING:

“He (U.S. President Donald Trump) is unfair to us because I can't imagine living in an American living situation, because I can never imagine living in a place other than where nature is the best of the best in the world. And it's so free and, what can I say, you are not, you are for yourself, we are ourselves here in Greenland, I think, because we can live as we want.”

7. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN STREET

8. (SOUNDBITE) (DANISH) PENSIONER, CHARLOTTE HEILMANN, SAYING:

“The Danish Kingdom, that's Denmark and we're part of NATO. And I can't understand why he keeps wanting to take us. That's a childish thing, I think.”

9. TRAFFIC ON STREET

10. EXTERIORS OF UNITED STATES CONSULATE

11. MAN WALKING TO CONSULATE

12. PLAQUE ON WALL READING (English): “UNITED STATES CONSULATE”

13. PLAQUE AND UNITED STATES FLAG

14. U.S. CONSULATE BUILDING

15. EXTERIORS OF GREENLAND PARLIAMENT

16. GREENLAND FLAGS

17. WOMAN ENTERING PARLIAMENT BUILDING

18. VARIOUS OF MEMBER OF GREENLAND PARLIAMENT FROM THE NALERAQ PARTY, JUNO BERTHELSEN, SPEAKING

19. GREENLAND FLAG ON TABLE

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF GREENLAND PARLIAMENT, JUNO BERTHELSEN, SAYING:

“The Greenlandic people have their own representatives. We have our politicians who represent the Greenlandic people. So having a meeting, being able to sit down and seek diplomatic solutions is what we've been seeking from the whole beginning. So we're happy that those diplomatic solutions are being sought out. And what comes out of them, we'll see. We've seen a lot of rhetoric from all sides. And what we've been needing for over a year is actual diplomatic talks about the situation, about the relationship between the U.S. and Greenland, about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark and the relationship between the U.S. and Denmark.”

21. PEOPLE IN STREET

22. PEOPLE SEEN IN CAFE

23. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN STREET

24. (SOUNDBITE)(English) TOUR GUIDE, CASPER FRANK MOLLER, SAYING:

“No matter what, we as a Greenlandic people are up for diplomacy, we are up for democracy, we are up for justice and we're not going to grab the sword. We're not going to go into any kind of warfare. What we're going to find is, hopefully, some kind of diplomatic solution. And I think that's exactly what (Greenlandic Foreign Minister) Vivian Motzfeldt is going to do tomorrow, to find some kind of approach, find some kind of a middle way to make sure that we can continue in a peaceful way.”

25. EXTERIORS OF ARCTIC COMMAND BUILDING

26. LOGO OF ARCTIC COMMAND ON WALL AND FLAGS

27. GREENLAND AND U.S. FLAGS

28. VARIOUS OF COLOURFUL HOUSES