Denmark recognises that the United States has security interests in the Arctic and is ready to discuss these with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday.

During his visit to Israel on Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen delivered a statement stating that Denmark recognized that the U.S. had security interests in the Arctic and was ready to discuss with them the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump.

Denmark reportedly issued the Trump team a private message about handling U.S. security concerns in Greenland after the president-elect threatened to use force.

One European diplomat told Axios that Denmark was widely seen as America’s closest ally in the European Union, and that no one could have imagined it’d be the first Trump would pick a