Sir Keir Starmer has said he “stands” with Denmark after Donald Trump threatened to annex Greenland.
The UK prime minister added that his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen was “right” to refuse the US president any claim to the territory.
Mr Starmer's signal of solidarity with European Nato ally Denmark comes as the US president suggested over the weekend that Venezuela may not be the last country subject to American intervention, after his administration raided Caracas and captured president Nicolas Maduro.
“We do need Greenland, absolutely,” Mr Trump told the Atlantic magazine, following the operation in Venezuela.
The Danish leader hit back, writing in a statement that “the US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom”, of which Greenland is one.
Asked during a visit to a community centre in Berkshire about Ms Frederiksen’s strong language, Mr Starmer told Sky News: “Well, I stand with her, and she’s right about the future of Greenland.”
The prime minister was asked by the BBC if he agreed with calls from the Danes for the US president to stop proposing American annexation of the island.
“Yes,” Mr Starmer replied, adding: “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland, and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.
“Denmark is a close ally in Europe, it is a Nato ally, and it’s very important the future of Greenland is, as I say, for the Kingdom of Denmark, and for Greenland, and only for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.”
The Labour government has in recent months been forging closer ties with Denmark, and has been taking cues from Ms Frederiksen’s government – which is of a similar political tradition – on how to crack down on illegal migration.
Washington over the weekend removed Venezuela’s president Maduro from the country, and has taken him to New York where he is set to face a courtroom on Monday on charges of “narco-terrorism”.
The move, seen as the most assertive US intervention to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has sparked murmurs among Trump allies for the president to follow through on his suggestions of acquiring Greenland as an American territory.
Katie Miller, the wife of one of Mr Trump’s senior aides Stephen Miller, posted a picture on social media of Greenland in the colours of the American flag alongside the word “soon” following the Venezuela operation.
Among the reasons Mr Trump and his allies have expressed a desire to take over Greenland is for the defence of the US against the threat of Russia, and China, in the high Arctic.
The territory is also home to vast natural resources however, including oil and gas, and rare earth minerals.
Downing Street sought to strike a conciliatory tone over the future of Greenland, amid the division between two of the UK’s allies.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We all agree the collective threat we’re facing in the Arctic is from Russia, which is why the Nato alliance has stepped up, including increasing our collective defence spending to ensure we can protect and defend the Euro-Atlantic region from increasing Russian threats.”
Mr Starmer is likely to discuss the situation when he speaks with Mr Trump following a meeting of the coalition of the willing, a group of Ukraine’s allies, on Tuesday.
