strengthening Canadian relationships: 1)(Updated) Carney heads to China next week for first visit by a prime minister in eight years; 2)What Trump’s aspiration to conquer Greenland means for Canada; 3)Five ways U.S. intervention in Venezuela could affect Canada; 4)White House says military ‘always an option’ in Greenland as European leaders reject U.S. takeove 5)Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada to build forces to support peace in Ukraine; 6)(Updated) Carney meets with Danish PM as U.S. ramps up talk of taking over Greenland
1) (Updated) Carney heads to China next week for first visit by a prime minister in eight years
Source Canadian Press
By David Baxter and Dylan Robertson, January 7, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week as he makes the first official trip to China by a Canadian prime minister in more than eight years.
Carney’s office on Wednesday confirmed the China trip and a planned visit to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. The China visit is part of Ottawa’s efforts to restore ties with China after years of trade and political tensions.
“We should go in there with our eyes wide open,” said Lynette Ong, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. “We need to engage with China out of necessity.”
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the trip, which runs Jan. 13 to 17, will build on the first meeting between Carney and Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea on Oct. 31.
That was the first official meeting between the leaders of Canada and China since former prime minister Justin Trudeau travelled to China in December 2017.
Carney is also set to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan. 19 to 21. The Prime Minister’s Office said he plans to meet with investors and government and business leaders at the event.
The diplomatic relationship between Canada and China nearly disintegrated in 2018 following Canada’s arrest of a Chinese telecom executive at the request of the United States. Beijing subsequently jailed two Canadians who had been working in China — acts which Canada called arbitrary.
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were held in jail for nearly three years. They were released in September 2021 after a deferred prosecution agreement was reached between the U.S. and China in the fraud case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
In 2022, Xi was recorded berating then-prime minister Justin Trudeau at a reception during a G20 summit in Indonesia. Beijing has repeatedly criticized Canada for calling out human rights abuses in China.
Trade relations have also suffered. Canada has imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 per cent import tax on steel and aluminum over the last two years.
China responded by hitting Canada with a 100 per cent tariff on various agricultural products last March, including canola and peas, plus a 25 per cent levy on pork and seafood products.
China’s ambassador to Canada has said that Chinese tariffs would be removed if Canada dropped its EV tariffs.
Ong said Carney and Xi could land a deal to draw down Canada’s electric vehicle tariffs in exchange for China loosening its agricultural levies. That, she said, could be part of a statement about deeper engagement and possibly the first step toward trade talks.
Ong said that if Canada and China don’t agree to drop their tariffs entirely, a 50 per cent reduction “would be quite a concession (and) would be a gesture of goodwill. And I think it would benefit Canadian consumers.
“I am pretty hopeful. I think geopolitics has changed quite a bit from 2018 (and) the arrest of the two Michaels.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe wrote on social media he’s pleased that Carney is visiting China and he hopes the prime minister can convince Beijing to drop its agricultural tariffs.
“If we are truly serious about securing, diversifying and expanding Canadian markets around the world, this is a country we should engage with in a serious way,” Moe wrote.
Ong said China is motivated to build stronger ties with Canada because its economy is suffering from a weak property market and high youth unemployment, despite a thriving tech sector. Both countries are trying to diversify their trade away from the U.S. market.
Still, Ong said her research has found China slaps restrictions on Canadian goods that have the lowest economic impacts on China, while encouraging countries to rely on Chinese goods that they would struggle to source elsewhere.
“We need to be very careful about China weaponizing dependency,” she said.
She also said Canada “should maximize our interests” by seeking economic gains while not abandoning its values. “It is in Canadian interests to defend democracies, to defend liberty and freedom,” she said.
Carney said in September that Ottawa should be “clearer about where we engage” with China — that Canada could collaborate “deeply” with Beijing on energy, climate change and basic manufacturing, while maintaining “guardrails” around national security matters.
Since taking office, Carney has said that Canada’s strategy is to work with China where there is common ground and respect differences while defending Canadian interests.
For years, Beijing has urged Canada to focus on shared priorities instead of flashpoints such as China’s repression in Hong Kong and allegations of human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs and other minorities.
Carney’s private meeting with Xi in October lasted about 40 minutes. While no movement on trade issues came out of it, Xi invited Carney to visit China in the new year.
Carney said he was “very pleased’ with that meeting and suggested it represented a “turning point” in Canada-China relations.
That’s a sharp turn from comments Carney made during the leaders’ debate in the spring federal election, when he described China as “the biggest security threat” facing Canada. Carney later attributed the threat to Chinese foreign interference activities in Canadian politics and China’s activity in the Arctic.
After the October meeting, Carney said he raised the issue of foreign interference with Xi and that Beijing does not understand how seriously Canada takes the issue.
Last January, a federal inquiry concluded that “China is the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions” at all levels.
Beijing insists it does not interfere in other countries’ affairs and has called on Canada to do the same regarding matters it deems to be domestic, such as the status of Taiwan.
Ong said Beijing likely will continue to target Chinese-Canadians through political interference and transnational repression, regardless of how much trade takes place between the two countries, “because of the sheer size of Chinese diaspora in this country.”
“We have to think about separate measures to insulate ourselves from those harms,” she added.
While in China, Carney will also meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang and business leaders to discuss trade, energy, agriculture and international security.
Carney is likely to visit China again this year in November, when the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum hosts leaders in the tech hub of Shenzhen.
— With files from Sarah Ritchie
2) What Trump’s aspiration to conquer Greenland means for Canada
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Dylan Robertson, Jan. 8, 2026.
Canada’s closest physical neighbours are in an escalating dispute that risks breaking the military alliance that has protected the nations of the North Atlantic for decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump keeps talking about annexing Greenland, the Danish territory where Canada is about to open a diplomatic mission.
Here’s a look at why diplomacy, climate change and natural resources have put Greenland in the global spotlight — and what this war of words could mean for Canadian security.
WHY IS GREENLAND DANISH?
Greenland is a mineral-rich island, 80 per cent of which lies above the Arctic Circle. It’s home to about 56,000 people, mostly Inuit. The island has a measure of autonomy within the Kingdom of Denmark, which handles its foreign policy.
Missionaries colonized the land mass in the 1700s when Denmark and Norway had a single monarch, and Greenland became Danish territory when the monarchy broke apart in 1814. It is a self-governing territory of Denmark — a longtime U.S. ally that has repeatedly rejected Trump’s talk of purchasing or even annexing the territory.
Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.
In 2015, the Arctic Human Development Report found social issues in Greenland similar to those in Nunavut, such as a wide gap in health outcomes.
WHY IS GREENLAND STRATEGIC?
Greenland has been critical to the defence of North America since the Second World War, when the U.S. occupied the territory to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany. It’s also vital territory for the protection of North Atlantic shipping lanes.
Greenland guards part of what is known as the GIUK Gap, the area between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K. where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic. Analysts have described the area as strategically important for shipping and an outer line of defence against threats to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Defence operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defence of Greenland Treaty in 1951. The base supports U.S. and NATO missile warning, missile defence and space surveillance operations.
Thomas Crosbie, an associate professor of military operations at the Royal Danish Defence College, said an American takeover wouldn’t improve upon Washington’s current security strategy.
“There (are) no benefits to them because they already enjoy all of the advantages they want,” he told The Associated Press.
“If there’s any specific security access that they want to improve American security, they’ll be given it as a matter of course, as a trusted ally. So this has nothing to do with improving national security for the United States.”
HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE HEATING THINGS UP?
The Arctic was largely an area of international co-operation after the end of the Cold War. But climate change is thinning Arctic ice and opening up the prospect of new shipping routes through the Northwest Passage.
That has reignited competition with Russia — which has restored old Soviet infrastructure and built new military facilities in the region — and China, which claims to be a “near-Arctic state.”
European leaders’ concerns about the Arctic were heightened when Russia escalated its 2014 annexation of parts of Ukraine to a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year Moscow is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening the capability of its armed forces there. He also said Moscow was holding the door open to broader international co-operation in the region.
WHAT ABOUT MINERALS?
Greenland is also a rich source of rare earth elements, 17 chemically similar metals that are a key component of cellphones, computers, batteries and other high-tech items that are set to drive the world’s economy in the coming decades.
That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers eager to reduce China’s dominance of markets for these critical minerals. Currently China mines almost two-thirds of the world’s supply of rare earth elements, and has threatened export restrictions.
Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have served as an additional hurdle for potential investors.
WHY IS CANADA SETTING UP SHOP?
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is planning to open a Canadian consulate in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, in early February — a move that has garnered attention following Trump’s threats but had been planned before his return to office.
The consulate is part of an Arctic foreign policy released in late 2024 that called for more defence and infrastructure investment in the North and a new consulate in Anchorage, Alaska. The policy said the Nuuk consulate would boost research and commercial ties.
Anand said last month that she had urged NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to get the alliance to focus more on the North.
“Canada’s exported our defence and military spending over two world wars to Europe. It is time for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to focus as well on the North Atlantic and the Arctic,” she told the Canadian Club in Toronto on Dec. 12.
WHAT HAS TRUMP SAID?
Trump mused during his first term about purchasing Greenland. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the idea “absurd,” leading Trump to cancel a state visit planned for Copenhagen in 2019.
Trump has been more vocal in his second term.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump said following this past weekend’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces.
His comments clearly have rattled NATO allies. This past Sunday, Trump told reporters they would talk again “about Greenland in 20 days.”
“Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he claimed. The Danish Institute for International Studies says those nations have ships in the Arctic but not within view of Greenland.
This week, the White House said acquiring Greenland is an “important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”
Frederiksen said Monday that an American takeover of Greenland would spell the end of the NATO military alliance, which has secured the U.S., Canada and Europe from threats emanating from Russia and other antagonists since the end of the Second World War.
Roland Paris, who leads the University of Ottawa’s graduate school of international affairs, wrote on the platform X that any U.S. move to take over Greenland would be “a seismic event” that would force Canada “to rethink every aspect of its relations with the U.S.”
HOW ARE DANES RESPONDING?
Since Trump’s return to the White House, Denmark has moved to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic.
Last year, Copenhagen announced it would be spending the equivalent of more than $3 billion to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region” of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The plan would see Denmark acquire three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.
Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, headquartered in Nuuk, is tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defence of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.
Trump dismissed Danish efforts Sunday as adding “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.
Last June, Denmark widened a previous military agreement to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil and give Americans more access to Danish airbases. Copenhagen says this agreement could be repealed if U.S. tries to annex Greenland.
— With files from The Associated Press
3)Five ways U.S. intervention in Venezuela could affect Canada
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Dylan Robertson, January 6, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump stunned the world on the weekend by ordering a military raid on the Venezuelan capital, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and bringing him to New York to face charges.
The move has challenged international law and could drastically reshape the situation in Venezuela, where violent repression and economic mismanagement — together with Western sanctions — have driven a migration crisis across North and South America.
Here’s how these drastic changes could affect Canada.
Oil
Trump says he plans to take control of Venezuela’s oil industry and encourage American companies to revitalize the sector, which fell into disrepair after years of government neglect and international sanctions.
Venezuela owns the largest known exploitable reserves of oil — heavy crude that requires the same kind of refinery processing as Alberta’s bitumen.
Analysts say it could take years and major investments to dramatically increase Venezuela’s production — but some believe the country could double or triple its current output of about 1.1 million barrels a day fairly quickly.
That could suppress the price Canada can seek for its oil — particularly if it’s competing for capacity at U.S. refineries. Analysts have noted that Canadian crude is often processed in refineries in the U.S. Midwest, not those along the Gulf of Mexico.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to “immediately approve a pipeline to the Pacific Coast” to support Canadian oil exports. The prime minister has said his government is working to expand access to oil markets in Asia.
Migration
Groups assisting migrants in Montreal and other large Canadian cities have over the past decade reported a rise in the number of asylum claims from Venezuelan nationals, including those who crossed irregularly into Canada from the United States. The groups have cited worsening conditions in Venezuela and the Trump administration’s moves to tighten its policies on refugee claims.
Immigration and Refugee Board data suggests, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Venezuelan citizens filing asylum claims in Canada has been gradually rising since 2013.
The number of claims received by the Immigration and Refugee Board peaked in 2023, when the tribunal recorded referrals for 3,054 Venezuelans. That figure includes both people who filed claims that year and earlier claims that had not yet reached the tribunal.
Canada has accepted most of those claims in recent years, while 10 to 20 per cent were rejected and some were withdrawn because the applicants abandoned their claims or were given residency through other programs.
Due to the humanitarian crisis affecting their home country, Canada has a policy of not deporting Venezuelan nationals under most circumstances, through “administrative deferrals.” If conditions in Venezuela improve, the Canada Border Services Agency could start removing Venezuelans with failed asylum claims or criminal convictions. But outbreaks of violence in the country could keep the current policy in place.
Sovereignty
Numerous observers have said that the successful capture of Maduro could embolden the Trump administration to intervene in other countries where it has talked of annexing territory, or whose governments it has maligned.
Trump and administration officials have talked of annexing Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland and have also issued threats against Colombia, Mexico and Cuba.
On Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Greenland should be part of the U.S. His wife Katie Miller posted on social media a map of Greenland covered with an American flag on social media Saturday and the word “soon.”
Analysts are watching to see if Maduro’s capture shapes Russia’s territorial ambitions and China’s pledge to seize the self-governing island of Taiwan.
France and Denmark have insisted that national sovereignty must be respected following Maduro’s capture. Canada’s statements have spoken more generally in support of international law.
Democracy
Regional experts say Canada, which has a reputation for supporting human rights activists in Venezuela, could co-ordinate with other countries to help Venezuelans choose their leaders.
“It’s increasingly unclear that the Trump administration has any intention of returning Venezuela to democratic rule,” said Max Cameron, a University of British Columbia professor specializing in Latin America.
Cameron pointed out that Trump has so far partnered with Maduro’s vice-president — which could be a means of propping up a brutal dictatorship while giving the U.S. a secure new oil source. It could also curb the number of Venezuelans fleeing for economic reasons — without restoring democracy.
Multiple countries, including Spain and Colombia, have said Maduro stole power after the 2018 election. But Trump has been dismissive of the current opposition in Venezuela and has claimed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is “not respected.”
American media reports suggest Machado has been at odds with both the Trump administration and elements of the Venezuelan military and public service — whom she accused of propping up an illegitimate regime. Trump, meanwhile, has focused more on reaching economic deals with the current regime.
Cameron said Canada could advance its interests by helping Venezuelans build up their democracy, instead of being an accomplice to American actions in the region.
“Canada has fought for democratization of Venezuela. That should be our goal,” he said.
Cuba
Some within the Trump administration, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have long called for regime change in Cuba, where the communist government has faced decades of steep American sanctions.
Cuban Americans who detest the regime in Havana have been an important voting block for Trump. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said after the capture of Maduro that Cuba’s government should worry about what the U.S. might do next.
David Carment, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, noted that Venezuela has long propped up the economy of Cuba, where there have been street protests in recent months over blackouts and water shortages.
“Cuba is almost entirely dependent on energy imports from Venezuela,” he said. “Cuba is just on the precipice.”
Ottawa says Canada is Cuba’s second-largest source of direct investment. The island is also a top spot for Canadian tourists, who may require consular assistance if major infrastructure collapses or if there is widespread violence.
Louise Blais, a former senior Canadian diplomat, noted that Ottawa’s response to Maduro’s capture was relatively easy to craft since Canada does not have an embassy in Caracas. Responding to the forcible removal of Cuba’s leadership by the U.S. would be more challenging, she suggested.
“It was easier this time for … Canada’s government to say that we didn’t have diplomatic relations with the regime, that we didn’t recognize Maduro,” she said on a Monday episode of the Red Passport podcast.
“But if Trump does the same in a country like Cuba, we won’t have that excuse. There will be no place for us to hide and try to find a way around it.”
— With files from The Associated Press
4) White House says military ‘always an option’ in Greenland as European leaders reject U.S. takeover
Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press
By Claudia Ciobanu And Stefanie Dazio, January 6, 2026
The White House said Tuesday that “U.S. military is always an option,” even as a series of European leaders rejected President Donald Trump’s comments about seeking an American takeover of the world’s largest island.
Trump has floated since his first term the idea of purchasing Greenland, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark. But, after this weekend’s U.S. military action in Venezuela, he’s renewed calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland, citing strategic reasons.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal.”
That’s notable since Trump’s newly appointed special envoy to Greenland, as well as deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, had suggested that military action wouldn’t be necessary. And asked Tuesday if he felt comfortable taking military action in Greenland, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “No. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Leavitt’s comments also followed the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom joining Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in issuing a statement reaffirming that the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island “belongs to its people.”
Their statement defended the sovereignty of Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark and thus part of the NATO military alliance.
“Greenland belongs to its people,” it said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also expressed his support, and announced a visit to Greenland early next month by Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon, who is of Inuit descent, and Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
“The future of Greenland and Denmark are decided solely by the people of Denmark,” Carney said, standing next to Frederiksen at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.
Also Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who Trump appointed last month as U.S. special envoy to Greenland, said when it comes to making a deal with Greenland, he isn’t interested in talking to people in Denmark who “absolutely have made their position clear.”
Nor does Landry want to talk to European diplomats. Instead, he said, he wants to have conversations directly with residents of Greenland.
“I want to talk to people who want an opportunity to improve the quality of life in Greenland,” the Republican said on a Fox News radio show.
Landry said he has already exchanged emails with Greenlanders who had reached out to him.
“They tell me they like to hunt, they like to fish, they like to have a good time. I’m like, y’all belong in Louisiana. I’m gonna call it culinary diplomacy,” Landry quipped.
White House doesn’t budge
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said Monday that Greenland should be part of the United States in spite of a warning by Frederiksen that a U.S. takeover would amount to the end of NATO.
“The president has been clear for months now that the United States should be the nation that has Greenland as part of our overall security apparatus,” Miller said during an interview with CNN on Monday.
The Danish leader, together with Greenland’s prime minister, has firmly rejected Trump’s renewed call for the island to come under U.S. control. Trump has argued the U.S. needs to control Greenland to ensure it security in the face of rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.
“It’s so strategic right now,” he told reporters Sunday.
“Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump said. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Miller wondered during his interview on Monday whether Denmark can assert control over Greenland. “What is the basis of their territorial claim,” Miller said. “What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?”
But he also said it wasn’t necessary to consider whether the U.S. administration was contemplating an armed intervention. “There is no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you are asking, of a military operation. Nobody is going to fight the U.S. militarily over the future of Greenland,” Miller said.
Greenland holds strategic importance
Greenland had been a colony of the Danish kingdom for hundreds of years, becoming an integral part in 1953. The U.S. government recognized Denmark’s right to the whole of Greenland at the beginning of the 20th century.
Legislation in 2009 that extended self-government to Greenland also recognized a right to independence under international law, an option favored by a majority of Greenlanders.
Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That location has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II.
The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland. Constructed after a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the U.S., the base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.
Greenland also guards part of the GIUK Gap, named for the initials of Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.
Greenland has large deposits of rare earth minerals needed to make everything from computers and smartphones to the batteries, solar and wind technologies that will power a transition away from fossil fuels. The U.S. Geological Survey also has identified potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas.
Dispute creates major anxiety
What started out as a social media post on Saturday by Miller’s wife over the weekend quickly turned into something that Denmark now perceives as a real threat.
Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, posted an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the U.S. flag, accompanied by the caption: “SOON.”
Trump’s comments Sunday, including telling reporters “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” deepened fears that the U.S. was planning a Greenland intervention in the near future.
Frederiksen said Monday that Trump’s comments about Greenland “should be taken seriously.”
“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen insisted on the need for good relations with the U.S. “We are not in a situation where we think that there might be a takeover of the country overnight and that is why we are insisting that we want good cooperation,” he said Monday night.
U.S. Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Blake Moore, co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, issued a joint statement Monday urging calm.
“Sabre-rattling about annexing Greenland is needlessly dangerous,” they said. “An attack on Greenland — a crucial part of that alliance — would tragically be an attack on NATO.”
“We already have access to everything we could need from Greenland,” the congressmen said, noting Denmark has previously given the U.S. a green light to deploy more forces or build additional missile defense infrastructure in Greenland.
Ulrik Pram Gad, a global security expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, questioned Trump’s characterization of the Russian and Chinese presence in the region.
“There are indeed Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic, but these vessels are too far away to see from Greenland with or without binoculars,” he wrote.
___ Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert in Washington, Danica Kirka in London, Rob Gillies in Toronto and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.
5)Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada to build forces to support peace in Ukraine
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Craig Lord, January 6, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will continue to build up its military might in the coming years, in part so it’s able to play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
Carney is in Paris meeting with Ukraine’s allies to discuss the role Canada might play in securing an eventual ceasefire in the war with Russia.
At a news conference at the Canadian Embassy on Tuesday, Carney said the negotiations on peace and security guarantees for Ukraine are “90 per cent of the way there,” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is also in Paris.
Carney said the remaining parts of a potential peace deal will need to be negotiated by Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
The prime minister said Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East and peace missions, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser will be attending.
A senior government official briefing reporters on the plane to Paris said Canada has been in talks for months about making an “appropriate and serious contribution” to Ukrainian security guarantees, and Ottawa’s recent push to ramp up defence spending has set the country up to play a bigger role in transatlantic security.
“We’ve been building that bench, and we’re going to continue to build that bench,” Carney told reporters Tuesday.
“The largest military buildup in generations coming over the course of the next five years, an additional $80 billion of investment, in part because of issues like this.”
Speaking in French, Carney said sending Canadians troops to Ukraine was a “possibility.”
He said Canada would be part of a possible “multilateral force” of other Ukrainian allies with additional backstops from the Americans.
“That means that our contribution has a much bigger effect than obviously we would if we were on our own,” Carney said.
He said Canada’s contributions could start with continued training, as Canadian soldiers are currently training Ukrainian forces in Poland as part of Operation Unifier.
Other support could come in the form of logistics, cybersecurity aid and weapon production.
The “coalition of the willing,” a group of more than 30 countries pledged to support Ukraine, is gathering in Paris as ceasefire talks reach a critical juncture.
Carney said Gen. Jennie Carrigan, chief of Canada’s defence staff, has been in talks with her counterparts in the coalition for months to shape Ukraine security guarantees, and now the leaders are gathering to finalize those plans.
Carney is meeting with a number of world leaders, including Mark Rutte, secretary-general of NATO, and heads of state from Denmark and Finland.
6)(Updated) Carney meets with Danish PM as U.S. ramps up talk of taking over Greenland
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, January 6, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney stood with Denmark on Tuesday, insisting the future of the Danish territory of Greenland will be decided “solely by the people” of Denmark and Greenland, following fresh comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about his desire to annex the territory.
Carney said Canada will always support Denmark’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which includes the autonomous island of Greenland.
“There’s basic principles here which (are) self-determination of nations, sovereignty, territorial integrity. And then there (are) approaches that we have as partners to what we’re trying to accomplish,” Carney said during a press conference at the Canadian Embassy in Paris on Tuesday.
“As NATO, we can provide security for all of NATO, Greenland included.”
The prime minister added that Canada and other NATO allies are working to boost Arctic security as the global threat environment changes and as Russia and China make inroads into polar waters.
Carney also noted that Canada is planning to open a consulate in Nuuk, Greenland in early February.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said in a social media post Tuesday she will be there for the consulate opening, adding it marks “a concrete step in strengthening our engagement” with Greenland and Denmark.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, who is Inuk, is also expected to travel to Greenland for the opening. Simon previously served as Canada’s ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs and ambassador to Denmark.
Carney, who was in Paris to attend a Tuesday meeting of Ukrainian allies to finalize a security guarantee plan for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia, took time before that summit to meet privately with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Frederiksen thanked Carney for his support and commitment to working together as NATO allies.
“I think we are both very into securing the Arctic region, and together with other NATO allies, we can secure the region,” she said.
Trump openly mused about annexing Greenland on Sunday after the U.S. carried out a military operation in Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro. In recent days, the U.S. president has also suggested he may target Cuba or Colombia.
On Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Greenland should be part of the U.S.
Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland in late December, telling reporters that the U.S. needs the island for national security. The envoy, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, has said on social media that his new job is “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
In response, Denmark said it would summon the U.S. ambassador to demand an explanation — a formal reprimand that allows the host country to register its displeasure at the actions of a foreign state.
Frederiksen has warned that a U.S. takeover would spell the end of NATO.
Trump has been proposing annexing Greenland since he took office for his second term last year, insisting it is a matter of U.S. national security. The island is also home to significant deposits of critical minerals which the U.S. does not have.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom also released a joint letter on Tuesday affirming their support for Greenland.
The leaders wrote that while the U.S. is “an essential partner” in NATO’s work to secure the Arctic region, that work must be done collectively “by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.”
The letter noted that the U.S. has had a defence agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark since 1951.
“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” the letter said.
— Written by David Baxter and Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa and Craig Lord in Paris, with files from The Associated Press