Burnham hails Greenland deal ahead of expected first Trump meeting

A No 10 spokesperson said in a readout of Sunday's phone call that Burnham and Frederiksen "welcomed the US's commitment to the region and underlined the strategic and shared importance of the High North for Euro-Atlantic security".The spokesperson added: "The prime minister congratulated Prime Minister Frederiksen and the Denmark" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8319" data-entity-type="location">Kingdom of Denmark on negotiating a deal benefiting the US, Greenland and Denmark, and said he would pass on his congratulations to President Trump."While Burnham praised the agreement, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called it a "pretend" victory and a nearly identical to the existing agreement.Getty ImagesGreenlanders protested against Trump's ambitions for the territory in the country's capital, Nuuk, earlier this year"Donald Trump is trying to claim he's got a success in Greenland, but actually, all he's got is almost a carbon copy of the agreement that's persisted since the 1950s," he said during a Q&A at the Lib Dem party conference."So let Donald Trump try to pretend he's had a victory. The truth is, Europe, NATO, countries like Canada stood up to him and won."Trump had for months threatened to purchase or annex the semi-autonomous territory, arguing that it was vulnerable to adversaries, including Russia and China.Following the announcement of the deal, Frederiksen said she was "pleased that there is a prospect of a good agreement" for all three parties, which was expected to be signed at the UN General Assembly next week.