Danish and Greenlandic authorities have rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that the United States is ready to launch large-scale exploration for oil, gas and minerals in Greenland, infohub.kz reports.
The day before, Donald Trump posted on his own social network Truth Social that the US is preparing for large-scale oil and gas exploration in Greenland.
"Large scale oil, gas, and mineral exploration is just about to begin in our beautiful new Greenland! Experts say that easily accessible oil reserves here exceed those of virtually any other region in the world. Moreover, from a security standpoint, both defensive and offensive for the US and Europe, this region has no equal. Any potential attack on the US would inevitably pass through Greenland, where our defense system could easily intercept drones, missiles and any other types of weapons that may not even have been invented yet. This gives us a time advantage, a favorable geographic position and visual control unlike anywhere else in the world!" Trump wrote.
After that, CNN journalists checked the information with the Greenlandic government. There, officials rejected Trump's claim that "large-scale exploration for oil, gas and minerals is about to begin" on the island.
Deputy Minister of Mining of Greenland Jørgen Hammeken-Holm confirmed that "American companies are carrying out certain activities," but noted that "large-scale" exploration is still a long way off.
"A lot of small-scale exploration work is underway right now, but it could be years before it is fully launched," he added. According to him, researchers share this view, pointing to serious difficulties and enormous costs associated with extracting natural resources in Greenland.
Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that any US attempts to explore resources on the island must be carried out in strict accordance with local legislation. The ministry also stressed that the agreement between the US, Denmark and Greenland signed last month does not change anything in this regard.
"This agreement does not give US investors any advantages over investors from other NATO countries, EU member states or NATO partners when it comes to access to Greenland's natural resources," the ministry added.