The United States and Denmark have discussed 3 new U.S. military bases in southern Greenland for months, and the talks have made progress without producing a formal agreement, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in Copenhagen on May 12. [1, 2, 3]

The proposed sites would add to the single U.S. base now in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base in the northwest, and one possible location is Narsarsuaq, which once hosted a U.S. base and a small airport. [1, 4, 5, 2, 6, 7, 3]

Reports said the new facilities would be used to track Russian and Chinese naval activity in the North Atlantic, especially near the GIUK gap, a strategic stretch between Greenland, Iceland and Britain. [1, 4, 5, 2, 8, 9, 6, 10]

Some reports also said Washington wanted the 3 new bases to be formally designated as U.S. sovereign territory or counted as American territory, but other accounts said U.S. officials had not raised any demand to change Greenland's sovereignty in the talks. [1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 6, 7, 3]

The White House confirmed it was holding high-level talks with Greenland and Denmark, declined to give details, and one White House official said the administration was “very optimistic” about the negotiations. Denmark's foreign ministry also said it was talking with the U.S. through diplomatic channels. [1, 12, 4, 5, 2, 8, 9, 11, 6, 10, 7, 3]

The talks come after Donald Trump said in January that the U.S. should “own” Greenland and could get it by “simple” or “forceful” means. Multiple reports said the negotiations have involved senior U.S. State Department official Michael Needham, Denmark's ambassador to Washington Jesper Moller Sorensen and Greenland's envoy in Washington, Jacob Isbosethsen. [4, 5, 2, 8, 9, 11, 6, 10, 7]

The U.S. and Denmark signed a defense agreement in 1951, with some sources saying it was updated in 2004, and the deal allows the U.S. to expand its military presence with notice and Danish approval. Nielsen said, “We are negotiating, but we have not reached an agreement yet,” and added that the existing defense pact allows more bases. [1, 5, 2, 8, 9, 6, 3]