US President Donald Trump said no force will be used to seize Greenland, but pressed his claim to an island he said must become part of America.
In a largely unscripted speech, he refused to back down but sent the signal that there would be no boots on the ice of the "big beautiful island".
"I won’t use force," he said.
The crisis sparked a stock market selloff a day earlier, with the S&P 500 dropping two per cent, wiping billions from the value of American companies. At the weekend, European nations said they would deploy troops to shore up Greenland's sovereignty.
You can say yes, and we'll be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we'll remember Donald Trump on Denmark handing over Greenland
The statement will do much to quell fears of yet another geopolitical crisis, but is far from over.
Mr Trump appeared to link America paying the lion's share of Nato's funding to the right to own Greenland.
"We pay for, in my opinion, 100 per cent of Nato, because they won't pay their bills. And all we're asking for is Greenland." He said the US could use force, but it would not.
Addressing Denmark with a threat, he said: "Y
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