ISTANBUL

NATO is moving toward a “straightforward compromise” over disagreements among allies concerning Greenland, a senior alliance official said on Sunday.

Lt. Gen. Remigijus Baltrenas, director general of NATO’s International Military Staff, told Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT that consultations are ongoing within the alliance and are helping build “greater understanding and pragmatism.”

“This is, first and foremost, a matter of bilateral relations between two states,” Baltrenas said, adding that discussions led by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and member-state ambassadors were progressing “in a positive direction.”

He said any eventual solution should benefit “the alliance as a whole, for Europe, and for the United States itself.”

Baltrenas underlined that NATO already has a significant presence in the Arctic, including regular military exercises involving the US and Canadian forces under the NORAD framework, some of which have taken place in Greenland.

“The current political tensions had no impact on those drills, nor on other routine exercises,” he said, noting that Denmark recently raised the possibility of a NATO mission in Greenland.

He said the Arctic has become increasingly strategic due to interest in the Northern Sea Route by Russia and China, and that Sweden and Finland, NATO’s newest members, are now fully integrated into the alliance’s regional defense plans.

On Ukraine, Baltrenas said there is no final agreement yet on post-war security guarantees following recent meetings of the so-called “coalition of the willing.”

“What is clear is that Ukraine’s armed forces themselves are the primary guarantor of security,” he said.

Amid growing debate in Europe about strategic autonomy, Baltrenas stressed that NATO should remain the cornerstone of continental defense, while the European Union should focus on economic and political tools.

Baltrenas also said defense spending has risen sharply across the alliance, recalling a decision at the Hague summit to aim for budgets of up to 5% of GDP.

“All members have now surpassed the 2% minimum,” he said, noting that Lithuania and other Baltic states are already above 5%.