Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said on Friday he was ready to speak with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants control over the Arctic island, and urged respect for the island’s independence aspirations.

Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede has expressed readiness to negotiate with Donald Trump. This comes shortly after the future US leader's statement about his desire to control the island, Reuters reports.

The prime minister of the Greenland says the people of his mineral-rich Arctic territory don't want to be Americans but that he's open to greater cooperation with the United States.

COPENHAGEN: Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said on Friday (Jan 10) he was ready to speak with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants control over the Arctic island and urged respect for the island's independence aspirations.

Egede’s remarks, which follow a Dec. 22 post on Truth Social by President-elect Donald Trump advocating for the “ownership and control” of Greenland, focused on the basis of secession from Denmark.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute B. Egede called on his people to stand united amid a renewed push for independence and recent interest from US President-elect Donald Trump in the Arctic island.

The island’s rare earth minerals and plum Arctic position have turned it into a geopolitical hotspot and the object of American fantasies.

Many in the sprawling Danish territory don’t want to sell to the U.S., but they are open to the idea of a closer relationship.

Meanwhile, Egede has advocated for Greenland's independence, criticizing Denmark as a colonial power with a history of mistreatment toward the island's Indigenous Inuit population