ISTANBUL

A delegation of US lawmakers arrived on Friday at the Industry House in central Copenhagen for a working lunch with Danish business leaders, as diplomatic tensions persist over Washington’s statements regarding Greenland.

The group traveled from the parliament building, Christiansborg, to the headquarters of the Confederation of Danish Industry, where discussions were expected to focus on economic ties between the two countries and Denmark’s broader efforts to rally support over Greenland.

US Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said the delegation wanted to underline long-standing ties with both Denmark and Greenland, Danish news agency DR reported.

“We have been friends and allies with Denmark and Greenland for decades. We want them to know that we greatly appreciate that,” Durbin said.

He added that recent remarks by President Donald Trump “do not align with what the American people feel and believe.”

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Danish parliament and former defense minister, Soren Gade, said he has changed his view of the US in recent times because of the tone of the American administration toward Greenland.

“I never thought I would speak critically about the United States. But if I am to be able to look Danish veterans in the eye in the future, I can no longer remain silent,” he wrote on US social media platform Facebook.

Gade called the US tone “indecent.”

Following the lunch meeting, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called Donald Trump’s threats “absurd," saying "because Greenland is a sovereign territory and a nation."

Asked whether Denmark and Greenland should take Trump’s threats to annex Greenland seriously, Tillis said many members of Congress would ensure that this does not happen.

Christian Friis Bach, chairman of the Danish Foreign Policy Committee, also said that the aim is to send the Americans home with a message for the public.

“We hope they return with strong images and strong messages that can convince even more members of Congress that Greenland cannot be taken over,” he added.

Jeff Landry, the United States’ special envoy to Greenland, told Fox News that he plans to visit the island in March.

“I believe that a deal can and will be made,” he said.

Landry also said that “the president is serious” about wanting Greenland.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory of strategic importance in the Arctic.

The White House said Thursday that the deployment of European troops to Greenland would not affect Trump’s plans to take control of the island.

Meanwhile, Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway announced earlier this week that they would deploy a joint mission to Greenland, shortly after talks in Washington between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials failed to resolve key disagreements over the island.