The Danish foreign minister said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump remains intent on “conquering” Greenland as the talks with US officials failed to solve a “fundamental disagreement” that has led to unprecedented tensions between Washington and a NATO ally, reports The Guardian.

It was “absolutely not necessary” for the US to seize Greenland, a largely self-governing part of the Danish kingdom, the Danish foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said late on Wednesday.

“We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering Greenland. And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom.”

Rasmussen urged Washington to engage in “respectful” cooperation over the Arctic island that is controlled by Copenhagen.

In a signal of European support, France, Germany and Norway have all said they would contribute troops to a multinational force led by Denmark that would lead to “an increased military presence in and around Greenland, comprising aircraft, vessels and soldiers, including from Nato allies”, the Danish defense ministry has said in a statement.

The two sides did agree to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a US takeover of the semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks.

The US vice president, JD Vance, and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, hosted the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday in what observers worried could be an ambush meant to pressure the Danes into ceding the territory under US economic and military pressure.