ISTANBUL

The US is in negotiations with Denmark to secure access to three additional defense areas in Greenland, a senior US military official said, according to a report published Tuesday.

Gregory Guillot, commander of US Northern Command, told a Senate hearing on March 19 that the US is seeking to extend its military footprint beyond Pituffik Space Base, the former Thule Air Base in northern Greenland, the daily Berlingske reported.

Guillot said the discussions are unfolding within the framework of the 1951 defense agreement between the two countries, describing the deal as "very advantageous" for US operations in the region. Denmark and Greenland have been "very cooperative," he added, noting that all US requests have so far been accommodated.

His remarks suggest that a long-running diplomatic dispute over Greenland may be softening, at least on defense and security matters, as both sides pursue a pragmatic path forward.

The specific locations under discussion were not disclosed at the hearing, though analysts say potential sites could include Narsarsuaq in the south, Kangerlussuaq in the southwest, and areas near Pituffik — all of which retain strategic infrastructure such as airfields or deep-water ports dating back to Cold War-era US military presence.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has drawn both praise and criticism for his approach to Washington, particularly after steering tensions over US interest in Greenland into structured working groups rather than open confrontation.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for US control over Greenland in recent months, citing national security concerns surrounding Russia and China, and at one point threatened sanctions against European countries that resisted the idea.

Those threats were later walked back following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where Trump said both sides had established a framework for a potential agreement covering Greenland and the wider Arctic, paving the way for subsequent talks among the US, Denmark, and Greenland.