'The end of the world as we know it': Poland warns of 'disaster' if NATO nations turn on each other over Trump's bid to claim Greenland as Danish troops arrive in the region
By Taryn Kaur Pedler
Daily Mail
Jan 15, 2026
A Royal Danish Air Force Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules at Nuuk international airport on January 15, 2026, the day after it arrived transporting Danish military personnel
A senior European leader has issued a chilling warning that an internal NATO conflict over Greenland would spell catastrophe for the Western world, as tensions mount over Donald Trump's bid to claim the Arctic island.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday that his country would not send soldiers to Greenland, making clear that any aggression between NATO allies would shatter the foundations of global security.
'An attempt to take over (part of) a NATO member state by another NATO member state would be a political disaster,' Tusk told a press conference.
'It would be the end of the world as we know it, which guaranteed a world based on NATO solidarity, which held back the evil forces associated with communist terror or other forms of aggression.'
His comments come amid growing unease across Europe after the US President renewed his long-running claim that Greenland is vital to American security, and suggested Washington could take drastic action to secure it.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the US must own Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from gaining a strategic foothold in the Arctic.
He has insisted that all options remain on the table to ensure control of the mineral-rich island, declaring that if Washington does not act, 'China or Russia will'.
The rhetoric has sent shockwaves through NATO, an alliance that has underpinned Western society since World War II.
Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that the US must own Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from gaining a strategic foothold in the Arctic
Trump's statements have already put unprecedented strain on relations between allies, raising fears of a crisis that was unthinkable just years ago.
As concerns escalated this week, military personnel from France and Germany headed to Greenland on Thursday, joining Denmark and other allies in a series of exercises aimed at reinforcing the island's security.
Germany's defence ministry said the reconnaissance mission by several European NATO members aims 'to explore options for ensuring security in light of Russian and Chinese threats in the Arctic'.
The deployments were announced shortly after a meeting between US, Danish, and Greenlandic officials in Washington failed to resolve what officials described as a 'fundamental disagreement' over the future of the island coveted by Trump.
France, Sweden, Germany, and Norway confirmed on Wednesday that they would deploy military personnel to Greenland's capital, Nuuk, as part of the mission.
A British military officer is also among the international force of European troops being deployed to Greenland.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'At the request of the Danish government, there is one UK military officer that is part of this reconnaissance group.'
Downing Street insisted sending a UK military officer to Greenland was not a 'deployment of troops' and was part of 'routine' planning ahead of an Arctic endurance exercise.
On Thursday, the Netherlands joined the tally, declaring it would send one military officer in support of a European mission to Greenland.
'Security in the Arctic region (including Greenland) is of strategic importance to all NATO members,' said Dutch Defence Minister Rubens Brekelmans in a statement.
'That is why the Netherlands is participating with other NATO countries in joint reconnaissance in Greenland for a military exercise in the Arctic,' he added.
'The Defence department will send one naval officer,' announced Brekelmans.
Danish forces have also stepped up their presence, underlining Copenhagen's determination to maintain sovereignty over the territory.
It comes after Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen admitted that more work was needed to 'find a common way forward', adding there would be further discussions about Trump's plans in the coming weeks.
Speaking to reporters after the hour-long meeting, Mr Rasmussen said it remains 'clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. And we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom'.
Poland, however, is keeping its distance. Tusk stressed that while Europe must stand united, Warsaw would not contribute to troops, saying he would 'do everything he could to ensure that Europe remained united on the issue of Greenland'.
And the escalating NATO activity has not gone unnoticed in Moscow.
Russia said it was seriously concerned by the arrival of alliance forces in Greenland, accusing NATO of exploiting the situation to expand its footprint in the Arctic.
'The situation unfolding in the high latitudes is of serious concern to us,' the Russian embassy in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered, said in a statement published late Wednesday.
NATO is 'building up its military presence there under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing,' the embassy added.
Sweden's defence minister Pai Jonson, also said on Wednesday that Trump was exaggerating their presence in the region.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday that his country would not send soldiers to Greenland, making clear that any aggression between NATO allies would shatter the foundations of global security
Danish military forces participate in an exercise with troops from several European NATO members in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, September 2025
'If you state that Greenland is flooded with Russian and Chinese vessels, that's an exaggeration according to assessments that we do for the region,' he reportedly said.
Mr Jonson added that while there had been an increase in the number of Chinese research vessels in Greenland's waterways, the scope of this was 'limited'.
Two senior Nordic diplomats voiced similar criticisms of the US leader.
The diplomats, who have access to NATO intelligence briefings, also rejected claims that there were Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland.
'It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines,' one told the Financial Times.
Another said that claims that waters around Greenland were 'crawling' with Russian and Chinese vessels were unfounded, adding that such activity was on the Russian side of the Arctic.
While neither the Russian foreign ministry nor the Kremlin has commented directly on the deployments, the message from Moscow is unmistakable.
Both NATO and Russia have increased their military presence in the Arctic in recent years, driven by climate change that is melting sea ice and opening the region to international shipping routes and lucrative mining opportunities.
Greenland's strategic location, vast natural resources, and proximity to key transatlantic routes have long made it a focal point of global power politics, but never before has a NATO ally openly floated the idea of seizing territory from another.
According to the Russian embassy, the internal disputes within NATO over Greenland are making the alliance's ability to reach agreements 'increasingly unpredictable' - a claim that will alarm Western capitals already wary of deepening fractures.
Meanwhile, Denmark and its European partners are scrambling to project unity and calm, even as Trump continues to push his provocative case.
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