Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, is to hold high-level talks in Washington on Monday amid U.S. threats of a violent takeover of Greenland and discussions about a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The conservative politician had planned to meet his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio, this afternoon. The talks are expected to focus on trans-Atlantic security and defence policy.

Mr Wadephul had reminded the U.S. of its responsibility for freedom, self-determination and towards NATO before his departure.

U.S. President Donald Trump cited the strategic importance of Greenland, a large presence of Russian and Chinese ships in the region and the island’s natural resources as reasons for his threats.

En route to Washington, Mr Wadephul made a stop in Iceland, roughly 300 kilometres south-east of Greenland, on Sunday for talks with his Icelandic counterpart Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir about security in the Arctic region.

Mr Wadephul said Germany wanted to make a greater contribution to regional military security, where the German armed forces already conduct maritime surveillance.

Like the U.S. and Germany, Iceland and Greenland, which officially belong to Denmark, are members of the trans-Atlantic NATO alliance.

He departed Iceland on a train journey to the UN in New York.

Mr Wadephul planned to travel by train to New York on Monday afternoon to meet the UN secretary-general, António Guterres.

The background to the visit was the U.S. announcement of its withdrawal from 66 international organisations, including numerous UN organisations.

Mr Trump had justified the withdrawal by claiming that the organisations were not compatible with U.S. interests.

Many of these organisations deal with the environment and climate change, gender equality, education, democracy, civil society, and the rule of law. 

(dpa/NAN)