Nato would no longer be effective if US annexes Greenland by force, Lord Ricketts warns
The United States has raised the prospect of using military action to annex Greenland, after European leaders, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, backed Denmark and Greenland in the spat.
"President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
"The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilising the US is always an option at the commander-in-chief's disposal."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Mr Trump on Wednesday evening over the phone and "set out his position on Greenland"; however, Downing Street did not provide any further details of Sir Keir's comments during the call.
The world's largest island, Greenland is a semi-autonomous region run by Copenhagen, and has two members in the Danish parliament.
US hints at military action to take Greenland
BFBS Radio's Sitrep podcast spoke to Lord Peter Ricketts, the former UK Ambassador to Nato, about the possibility of the US taking military action to annex Greenland.
Speaking about the chance of Washington mobilising its military to take control of the country, Lord Ricketts said: "[US president Donald] Trump loves to deal in unpredictability, doesn't he? And I would have said, when he first came into office, that this sounded more like bluster and bravado, with the aim of getting a closer relationship with Denmark on Greenland.
"Now, I'm less sure. I think he feel[s] [like] he's on a roll. He feels he's invincible after the assault on [former president Nicolas] Maduro in Venezuela. And, therefore, I don't think we can rule anything out."
However, the situation is complicated by the fact that Denmark, and therefore Greenland, is a Nato member, meaning if it were attacked, Nato's Article 5 would be invoked to protect it.
Article 5 is the alliance's collective defence clause, which states that an armed attack against one Nato member is considered an attack against them all, and that each member will take whatever action it deems necessary to help the attacked country – including the use of armed force.
"I think if we get to a point where one ally annexes by military force of another ally, then that breaks the fundamental compact of trust, which is at the heart of Nato," the former National Security Advisor warned.
"Nato would no longer be an effective alliance at that point."
He added that he thought the Nato treaty would not be able to continue functioning if the military action ever occurred.
Nato involvement in the diplomacy on Greenland
Considering that Nato would have to exercise some decision-making power if Washington ever deployed military personnel and equipment to the country to take it over, the relationship between Mark Rutte, the Nato Secretary General, and Mr Trump would be crucial in any discussions around Greenland.
Mr Rutte is said to have a positive relationship with the American leader, as during the Nato summit in June last year, the ex-prime minister of the Netherlands said the US president was "a good friend" and said that he was "daddy" when it came to sorting out the troubles in the Middle East, which were ongoing at the time.
In response, the former Apprentice businessman said that Mr Rutte "likes me, I think he likes me, if he doesn't, I'll let you know".
Lord Ricketts added: "I think it might be time for him to go to Washington and sit down quietly and talk to the president about the realities and the damage that would be done by any kind of hostile move, whether military or not, because it's time to flex all the relationships we have with Trump.
"He does seem to be somebody who is prepared to listen to those he respects and likes."
UK wargaming if the US attempts military action
But, the question remains, what do all these events mean for the UK, and will London need to be wargaming whether the UK Armed Forces would respond militarily if Washington sought to take Greenland by force?
"I do not think there's any question of British forces going to war with American forces over Greenland," Lord Ricketts concluded.
"That's just simply not conceivable."
Denmark defends Greenland through its Joint Arctic Command (JAC), headquartered in Greenland's capital, Nuuk.
The JAC has four Thetis-class patrol vessels, three Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessels, a royal yacht called HDMY Dannebrog, and the Royal Danish Air Force's Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft and Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at its disposal to protect the region.
You can listen to Sitrep wherever you get your podcasts, including on the BFBS Forces News YouTube channel.
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