Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen on the sidelines of a meeting about security guarantees for Ukraine in Paris on Tuesday. Greenland, the subject of renewed focus by the U.S. president, is a Danish territory. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
The catchphrase going into Tuesday’s coalition of the willing meeting on Ukraine in Paris appears to be: expect the unexpected.
That was clearly the vibe as leaders from the 30-or-so countries, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, gathered in the French capital.
While European leaders were trying to square the implications the U.S. military action in Venezuela will have on efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine, Carney was dealing with the political fallout of Chrystia Freeland’s acceptance of a role advising the Ukrainian government while still a sitting member of Parliament.
The former cabinet minister will be a special, unpaid economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She was Canada’s envoy to Ukraine for reconstruction but has resigned that position and will quit as an MP in the near future.
But, by far, the capture and planned prosecution of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores under U.S. law was the event that rattled European leaders on the eve of discussing specific security guarantees for Ukraine.
How Venezuela fits into Trump’s national security strategy
The capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces and President Donald Trump’s plan to reinvigorate the Venezuelan oil industry could be seen as a page out of his new national security strategy. CBC’s Eli Glasner breaks down the strategy’s goal to dominate the Western Hemisphere and what it could mean for Canada and the world.
Adding to that unease, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to annex Greenland from Denmark in an interview with The Atlantic. One of his senior advisers, Stephen Miller, refused to rule out the use of military force during an interview with CNN.
“I have to say this very directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in response on social media.
“Firstly, I believe that the American president should be taken seriously when he says that he wants Greenland. But I also want to make it clear that if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One that European leaders know the United States needs to have Greenland.
Going in to Tuesday’s meeting, Carney tried to keep the focus on Ukraine and wouldn’t bite when asked if he’s concerned about threats of U.S. military force in Greenland.
“We stand with Denmark, we stand with Greenland,” Carney said. “Our closest partnership is with the United States. And we’ll work with everybody to make sure that we move forward together.”
Carney asked about U.S. threats to Greenland, what they mean for NATO
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about U.S. threats around Greenland on Tuesday, after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview that a choice by the U.S. to use military force on another NATO country would mean ‘everything stops’ — including NATO and the postwar security offered by the transatlantic organization.
A number of other nations, however, have expressed unqualified support for Denmark retaining control of the Arctic territory.
“Denmark is a very close ally of the U.K., both in Europe and in NATO. And it’s very important that we’re clear about the principles applicable here to Greenland,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said ahead of the meeting. “The Kingdom of Denmark must determine the future of Greenland, and nobody else.”
A measured response
Carney met with Frederiksen on Tuesday morning, during which he said Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will visit Greenland in the first week of February to open a new consulate there.
Anand had planned to open the consulate in November, but the trip was delayed due to weather.
Carney is also expected to meet with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the sidelines of the Ukraine meeting.
Carney meets Danish PM, says Greenland’s future will be decided by people of Greenland and Denmark
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has been facing U.S. threats over Greenland, said Tuesday after a meeting with Mark Carney that the Canadian prime minister has been ‘very clear’ on his respect for national sovereignty and shared values.
It’s unlikely European Union leaders will want to address the question of Venezuela directly over the next few days for fear of angering Trump and his delegates in Paris — and perhaps jeopardizing U.S. support for the coalition and Ukraine.
Carney adopted a measured response to Maduro’s arrest, noting Canada had not recognized Maduro’s “brutally oppressive and criminal regime” since the 2018 election which many in the international community say was stolen from the opposition.
The capture and planned prosecution of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro under U.S. law rattled European leaders gathered in Paris on the eve of planned meetings over specific security guarantees for Ukraine. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Carney welcomed “the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace and prosperity for the Venezuelan people,” who have the “sovereign right to decide and build their own future in a peaceful and democratic society.”
However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told several American political shows on Sunday that a transition to democracy is on hold for the time being and that Washington will work with Maduro’s subordinates. He said the reality is that many of Venezuela’s opposition figures had fled the country and it will take time to re-establish their presence.
Both Trump and Rubio invoked the Monroe Doctrine — or the “Donroe Doctrine” as Trump is now calling it — which asserts that Washington has the right to exert its authority within the Western Hemisphere.
UN Security Council largely condemns U.S. action against Maduro in Venezuela
The 15-member United Nations Security Council met at UN headquarters in New York just hours before Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appeared in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Most member countries explicitly condemned the U.S. for its actions, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a statement read by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo, said ‘I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country.’
Trump, in his remarks on Greenland, claimed that Russian and Chinese ships were surrounding the island territory.
Russia has used similar logic to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
Whether Trump’s actions in Venezuela, which has among the world’s largest proven reserves of oil, will embolden Moscow any further is an open question.
One U.S. defence expert said he believes there is momentum toward a ceasefire in Ukraine regardless of last weekend’s events.
“Russia has a reason to take a break from the fighting right now and retool its forces,” said Matt Schmidt, an associate professor and national security expert at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and a former instructor at the U.S. Army War College.
“It’s taken massive personnel losses and massive equipment losses it needs to replace. And that’s why it eventually needs to get to the table or win the war quickly.”
The coalition leaders hope to hammer out specific security guarantees for Ukraine that would deter Russia from simply using the ceasefire as a break.
The leaders will also focus on reconstruction.
FULL Q+A | Carney takes questions on Ukraine, Venezuela, Greenland
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is in Paris for a series of meetings, took questions about Ukraine — and what Canada can offer — as well as the U.S. president’s remarks about annexing Greenland and its move to capture and prosecute the leader of Venezuela.
