Andy Burnham hails Danish prime minister for reaching Greenland deal with Donald Trump

Andy Burnham has commended Denmark and the US after the two nations reached a new agreement over Greenland to "strengthen security in the Arctic".

Downing Street said the prime minister and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen "welcomed the US’ commitment to the region" in a telephone call held on Sunday morning.

In a readout, a No 10 spokesperson said: “The two leaders began by discussing their upcoming visits to New York for the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

“The prime minister said he would use the trip to drive forward work on issues that matter to people at home, including reducing the cost of living through greater global stability and delivering security for people through closer international partnerships.

“Turning to defence and security, the two leaders discussed the forthcoming signing of a new deal to strengthen security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic area between the US, Greenland and Denmark this week.

“They welcomed the US’ commitment to the region and underlined the strategic and shared importance of the High North for Euro-Atlantic security.

“The prime minister congratulated prime minister Frederiksen and the Kingdom of Denmark on negotiating a deal benefiting the US, Greenland and Denmark, and said he would pass on his congratulations to President Trump .

“The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine, and the prime minister said he hoped to make further progress with partners on stepping up support for Ukraine during UNGA and in the coming weeks.

Sir Ed Davey said Trump’s Greenland deal is a “pretend” victory and a near carbon copy of the existing agreement.

The Lib Dems leader said during a question and answer session with members at party conference: “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.

“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.”

On Saturday, the US president said he had a deal with Denmark to bolster America’s military presence in Greenland after months of threatening to take the island by force from the Nato ally.

On Friday, the United States, Denmark and Greenland said they had reached an agreement for the US to broaden its military footprint in the self-governed Danish territory , while preventing adversary nations from establishing bases there.

Key details of the arrangement — including the scale of the planned build-up and whether formal authority over foreign policy and resources will be ceded to Washington — have not yet been made public.