The framework agreement reached with the president will require NATO allies to strengthen security in the Arctic and the first results will be visible this year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday.
It is now up to NATO commanders to work out the details of the additional security requirements, Rutte said in an interview during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, adding that he was confident NATO’s non-Arctic allies would want to contribute to the effort.
“We will meet in NATO with our senior commanders to determine what is necessary,” Rutte said optimistically, adding: “I have no doubt that we can do this fairly quickly. I would definitely like it to be in 2026, I hope in the beginning of 2026.”
Rutte said mineral exploitation was not discussed during his meeting with Trump in Davos on Wednesday. Negotiations over the Arctic island will continue between the United States, Denmark and Greenland itself, he said.
The NATO secretary general also said that intensifying efforts in the Arctic would not deplete resources to support Ukraine, which is heavily dependent on NATO members for military support in its war with Russia.
Change of attitude from Trump
Trump said on Wednesday that the US would not use force to achieve his goal of acquiring Greenland and later withdrew his threat of additional tariffs against some of Washington’s European allies and NATO members over the issue.
When asked if NATO allies can trust Trump, Rutte replied: “You can always trust Donald Trump.”
Rutte, who was mentioned aloud by Trump during his speech in Davos on Wednesday, was also asked how he seems to be emerging as the person who can best lead a discussion with the US president to a positive outcome.
“I have no idea. I can only tell you that I like the guy, that I respect his leadership,” Rutte said.
Which countries have a military presence in the Arctic?
: Russia, United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
Here is an overview of their military assets, based on a Reuters report and sources from the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ “Military Balance 2025”, NATO / US Northern Command and the Icelandic government.
Russia
Half of the Arctic’s land area is Russian territory. Since 2005, Moscow has reactivated and modernized dozens of Soviet-era military bases, both in the Arctic mainland and on islands off its northern coast.
Russia maintains a high state of readiness at its nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya, an Arctic archipelago, although it has not conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion since 1990. Last October, it conducted a test launch of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile from Novaya Zemlya.
In the European Arctic, the Kola Peninsula is home to about two-thirds of Russia’s nuclear second-strike capability – its ability to respond to a nuclear attack with its own – according to Mathieu Boulegue, senior fellow in the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis.
The region is also home to Russia’s Severomorsk-based Northern Fleet, which operates six of the country’s 12 nuclear submarines, according to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The other six are operated by the Pacific Fleet based in Vladivostok.
The only way for the Northern Fleet to access the North Atlantic is through the Barents Sea, between the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and the northern coast of Europe. Maintaining this access is therefore essential for Moscow.
USA – Canada
Since 1957, the US and Canada have developed defense cooperation, including nuclear missiles, through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD.
They’re even modernizing NORAD, according to the IISS: Canada is procuring two over-the-horizon radar systems covering Arctic and polar approaches, with the first expected to reach initial operational capability by 2028.
US President Donald Trump wants to deploy a new missile defense system, called Golden Dome, for which he says Greenland is vital.
Washington has the Pitufik Space Base in northern Greenland under a defense agreement with Denmark. Otherwise, most of its Arctic forces are based at eight bases in Alaska and number about 22,000 troops, according to the IISS and the US Northern Command.
Canada has five bases in the Arctic, including Alert, a signal intelligence station on Elsmere Island, which is the northernmost permanently inhabited settlement in the world.
South of the Arctic Circle, Canada has a base at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, which is home to a ranger patrol group and an air base.
Canada is building a facility on Baffin Island to refuel offshore patrol vessels – although the project has suffered many delays. Meanwhile, the US is expanding existing port facilities in Nome, Alaska, according to the IISS.
Denmark
Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command (JAC), based in the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk, has around 150 military and civilian personnel.
JAC is also present at Kangerlussuaq Air Base, as well as four smaller military stations in east and northeast Greenland. JAC has a liaison officer in Pituffik.
The Sirius dog sled patrol – mocked by Trump – in the extremes of northeast Greenland.
Sweden and Finland
Sweden has no bases north of the Arctic Circle, but has an air base at Luleå, on the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, and a military base with two regiments at Boden, about 40 kilometers inland.
Finland has an air base at Rovaniemi, in the Arctic Circle, and a Jager Brigade base further north in Finnish Lapland.
Since joining NATO, the two countries have integrated their militaries with the rest of the alliance.
Norway
Norway is the NATO observer for a vast sea area of about 2 million square kilometers (770,000 square miles) of the North Atlantic, including the Arctic.
Many of its military installations are located above the Arctic Circle. It has four air bases, including one for the new F-35 fighter jets, two naval bases, a number of military bases and a reception center for NATO allies to come for reinforcements in the event of an attack.
There are no military installations in Svalbard, Norway’s Arctic archipelago.
Iceland
The North Atlantic island is a member of NATO, but has no army, only a coastguard.
It hosts US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft on rotational deployment, based at Keflavik Air Force Base, near Reykjavik.
NATO fighter jets rotate periodically to Keflavik to keep Icelandic airspace safe. Growth usually lasts two to three weeks, three times a year.
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