Denmark acknowledged Thursday that it had long neglected the defense of Greenland, a vast and strategically important Arctic island - and one that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called vital for U.S. security.

A Danish foreign minister said Wednesday Denmark is “open to a dialogue with the Americans on how we can cooperate, possibly even more closely than we already do, to ensure that American ambitions are fulfilled,

I think we can all do ourselves a favor and turn down the pulse a little bit,” said Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.