Prime Minister calls for 'calm' over President Trump's Greenland plans

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for "calm discussion", "respect" and "cooperation" over the issue of Greenland.

This weekend, world leaders have been arguing over the country, after Donald Trump again said America needs Greenland for its national security, and that not enough is being done to protect it from Russia and China.

President Trump has offered to buy Greenland but has has not ruled out taking it by force, saying he would take it "the easy way" or "the hard way".

Last week some European countries, including the UK, showed their willingness to help support Denmark in keeping Greenland secure, by sending small numbers of soldiers to work there.

But Donald Trump responded by saying he would bring in tarrifs, or extra business taxes, on countries that don't support him.

You can find out more about what's going on below, and if you have more questions, you can send them in here and we'll ask a BBC correspondent to answer them.

Greenland is the world's biggest island and sits in the northern Atlantic Ocean, next to Canada, and near to the Arctic.

It's officially part of Denmark, although it mostly runs itself.

Although he spoke about Greenland when he was previously US President, since he came into power in 2025, Donald Trump has focussed much more on the island, which he says should belong to the USA.

He says that the Arctic is a very important area and that Denmark and other European countries aren't doing enough to protect Greenland from China and Russia, so it needs to be part of the USA so it can be protected properly.

Denmark says that Greenland is "not for sale" and European leaders say that any decisions about the future of country should be made by people of Greenland and Denmark.

They have also offered to work with the USA in making sure the country has the security it needs.

UK Prime Minister Starmer made a speech on Monday morning about the situation with Greenland.

He spoke about the closeness of the partnership between the USA and the UK, and the importance of the group of countries called Nato.

Nato countries are a group of allies who share defence responsibilities. Of the countries in the group, America has the most powerful military, but it also includes lots of European countries including the UK, France and Denmark.

Mr Starmer spoke about the importance of the partnership and the need for calm discussion.

He also said countries don't always agree on things, but that respect should be shown between friendly countries, and that using threats and tariffs to put pressure on allies was "completely wrong".

He said his and President Trump's teams were talking often, but added that the current situation is serious and asked the country to come together.

Talking about ownership of Greenland, President Trump has said it was "time for Denmark to give back" now that "World Peace is at stake".

He has called for the "complete and total purchase" of Greenland, adding: "The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades."

In a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, President Trump said "the World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland."

In the letter Mr Trump also said he no longer feels "an obligation to think purely of Peace" after Norway "decided not to give" him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr Store responded by saying that the Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded by the Norwegian government, but by an independent organisation based in Norway.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is opposed the USA taking over Greenland saying "we want to cooperate and we are not the ones seeking conflict".

Last week, Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, stated that if his people were asked to make a choice they would choose Denmark over the US.

Responding to President Trump's threat to punish countries who oppose his plans with business taxes, or tarrifs, France's President Emmanuel Macron said: "Tariff threats are unacceptable in this context... We will not be swayed by any intimidation."

China has said that its activities in the Arctic are aimed at "promoting peace, stability and sustainable development in the region."

Foreign affairs spokesperson, Mao Ning, said that countries have the right "to carry out lawful activities in the Arctic" and that China shouldn't be used as "as a pretext for seeking selfish gains".

Leaders of many of Europe's countries will face President Trump at a big global business meeting, called the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.