France to send ‘land, air and sea assets' to Greenland

France will boost its military presence in Greenland in the coming days, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, as US President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure in his bid to annex the Danish territory, Report informs via POLITICO.

"An initial team of French soldiers is already on site and will be reinforced in the coming days by land, air and sea assets," Macron told an audience of top military brass during his new year address to the armed forces.

"France and Europeans must continue, wherever their interests are threatened, to be present without escalation, but uncompromising on respect for territorial sovereignty," he added, speaking in Istres, an airbase in the south of France that hosts nuclear-capable warplanes.

On Wednesday, several European nations including France, Germany, Sweden and Norway said they would send troops to Greenland to participate in a Danish military exercise, amid repeated threats by Trump that the US could use force to seize the island.

After a White House meeting on Wednesday, Denmark and Greenland "still have a fundamental disagreement" with the US, Denmark said.

In an obvious jab at Trump, who he didn't mention by name, Macron criticized "a new colonialism that is at work among some." Europeans have the means to be less dependent on the US, he added, revealing that two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence capabilities are now provided by France.

In an address to his Cabinet on Wednesday, Macron warned that if the United States seized Greenland from Denmark, it would trigger a wave of "unprecedented" consequences, a government spokesperson said.

The French president convened a defense council meeting Thursday morning to discuss both the Iranian uprising and the situation in Greenland.