Yvette Cooper visits High North as Greenland row continues

The UK is “stepping up on Arctic security”, the Foreign Secretary has said as she tours Scandinavia amid continued US threats to annex Greenland.

Yvette Cooper is set to call for more Nato efforts to secure the High North against Russian aggression as she visits Finland and Norway on Wednesday.

She is expected to meet Finnish border guards before visiting British Royal Marines at the Camp Viking base in the far north of Norway, saying the Government is “reinforcing our diplomatic and security commitment to the region”.

Ahead of the trip, she said: “Britain is stepping up on Arctic security. With our allies we are working to strengthen Arctic defences and deter any attempts from the likes of Vladimir Putin to threaten our interests and our infrastructure.”

She added: “We see it as our responsibility and our duty to tackle these challenges head on, making us all safer in the process.

“Arctic security is a critical transatlantic partnership issue for the security of Britain and Nato. Coming together as an alliance allows us to unify and tackle this emerging threat.”

But while Ms Cooper’s visit has been billed as focusing on Arctic security, it comes under the shadow of Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that the US needs to take over Greenland to prevent Russia or China getting hold of the territory.

Mr Trump’s administration has even threatened to use force to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, prompting concern about the future of the transatlantic alliance.

On Tuesday, Greenland’s energy minister Naaja Nathanielsen told a press conference in Westminster the territory had “no intention of becoming American” and felt “betrayed” by the US.

But while she warned that “we would all be under attack” if the US invaded Greenland, she maintained that Greenland wanted “a peaceful solution” and was open to greater security monitoring or an expanded Nato deployment.

Since the US began talking more loudly about annexing Greenland at the start of 2026, the UK appears to have increased discussions of Arctic security, with Sir Keir Starmer mentioning the issue in calls with Mr Trump, the Danish prime minister and the Nato secretary-general last week.