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Good morning from Brussels, where the EU’s 27 leaders will gather later tonight for what were convened as emergency talks on the transatlantic relationship.
But last night, Trump stepped back from the precipice, saying he will no longer impose the tariffs he had threatened on eight European countries over their support to Greenland.
“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary-General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” the US president added, prompting the stock markets to bounce.
As reported in this newsletter on Tuesday by our correspondent Shona Murray, an off-ramp for US President Trump to back down from his tariff threats had been in the works as early as Monday. More from Shona below.
Rutte, who infamously called Trump “Daddy”, has succeeded in dramatically taking the temperature down and avoiding a trade war, with the leaders of Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands welcoming the de-escalation overnight. But there is also a deepening sense of scepticism among some politicians around what the “concept of a deal” Trump referred to looks like, and whether the divide between Washington and Copenhagen can ever be bridged.
A NATO spokesperson said that “negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the United States will go forward aimed at ensuring that Russia and China never gain a foothold – economically or militarily – in Greenland.”
The plan could allow the US to build more military basis in the Arctic territory, according to US media, with the New York Times reporting this morning that Trump could seek US sovereignty over pockets of the Arctic island.
Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that yesterday had “ended on a better note than it began,” adding: “Let’s sit down and find out how we can address the American security concerns in the Arctic while respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark.”
But Aaja Chemnitz, one of the two Greenlandic members of the Danish Parliament, has rejected the notion that NATO could launch talks with Trump over the island’s future. “NATO in no case has the right to negotiate on anything without us, Greenland. Nothing about us without us,” she said.
Danish MP Sascha Faxe told Sky News: “It’s not real negotiations; it’s two men who have had a conversation. There can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations.”
Meanwhile in Brussels, EU ambassadors gather this morning before the bloc’s leaders huddle over dinner tonight. European Council President Antonio Costa’s office has confirmed the summit will remain focused on the “latest developments in the transatlantic relationship and its implications for the EU”.
Leaders are also due to discuss their invitations to join Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace. Germany is reportedly, like France, inclined to turn the offer down, amid mounting concerns Trump’s board is little to do with post-war Gaza and more to do with supplanting the United Nations.
Trump’s climbdown on Greenland also means Ukraine can once again take the spotlight at the World Economic Forum, where he is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later.
Trump repeated on Wednesday that Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin are both in a position to strike a deal, saying “if they don’t they are stupid.”
US envoy Steve Witkoff will also meet Putin in Moscow on Thursday, after American and Russian delegations held a meeting at the margins of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday evening.
NATO Secretary-General provides off-ramp for Trump’s tariff threats
As reported in this newsletter on Tuesday by our correspondent Shona Murray, an off-ramp for US President Trump to back down from his tariff threats had been in the works as early as Monday, when some in NATO were already “cautiously optimistic” the escalation could be defused.
“The matter needed to be discussed among allies, and with Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and not litigated in open press”, a source close to the situation told Euronews after Trump announced his decision to reverse course.
“Stuff doesn’t get solved amid the noise of the press but ultimately, he is a deal-maker and he’s made an agreement,” the source also said.
NATO sources also told Shona that the decision by eight European allies to announce a short-term troop deploymentas part of a reconnaissance mission to Greenland may have been “misperceived” by the White House as a statement of defiance, or “sabre-rattling.”
The fact that many of the soldiers were then leaving Greenland – as planned – was seen as a way of pacifying the president after the military missions by the UK, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Finland and France.
EU enlargement chief hails progress with US on post-war economic plan for Ukraine
Speaking to Euronews’ EU editor Maria Tadeo in Davos on Wednesday evening, the EU’s enlargement chief Marta Kos hailed progress on the work between the EU, the US and Ukraine on a framework for Ukraine’s post-war recovery and prosperity.
“I’m happy that we have been able to come to an agreement on the so-called prosperity paper, a framework defining how to develop Ukraine after peace,” Kos said. “This is really a plan.”
Kos, who will meet with President Zelenskyy and a number of investment partners including BlackRock in Davos, emphasised the importance of securing investor confidence to ensure Kyiv’s post-war prosperity.
“State money or EU money is not enough,” Kos said. “We can only be successful if we bring private capital, but we will not be able to bring private capital in if we do not have the business conditions that make investors feel safe.”
Asked about reports that the EU executive is planning a “EU membership lite” for Ukraine should the US-brokered peace plan include a swift timeline for EU accession as part of the country’s security guarantees, Kos said: “We have a big challenge. And in these challenging times, we have to think out of the box.”
EU-Mercosur deal kicked down the road after MEPs back referral to top court
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the European Court of Justice, in a move that significantly delays the deal and could potentially derail its final approval, my colleagues Vincenzo Genovese and Peggy Corlin report.
As expected, the vote was tight, with 334 MEPs in favour of the referral, 324 against, and 11 abstaining. The Court will now consider whether the trade deal is compatible with EU treaties.
The referral adopted on Wednesday suspends the approval procedure in the European Parliament, which was set for a final vote in the coming months. The EU top court’s ruling could take more than a year to be issued, and in the interim, the deal’s approval will be frozen.
Yet, the European Commission could still provisionally apply the deal, provided the move is endorsed by member states, a move which risks straining relations between the EU institutions.
A European Commission spokesperson said that the Commission “regretted the decision” and “would seek to convince lawmakers about the geostrategic importance of this trade deal”.
Asked about a provisional application of the agreement, the spokesperson said the matter would be discussed during Thursday’s extraordinary summit of EU leaders before any further steps can be decided.
Read the full story.
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Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is ‘changing Eurasia’, regional leaders say. The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents came together for the first time since signing a historic peace deal. Read and watch.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- EU ambassadors gather for talks in Brussels this morning, ahead of a summit of EU leaders later. Leaders meet from 19.00 CET.
That’s it for today. Shona Murray, Vincenzo Genovese, Jorge Liboreiro, Peggy Corlin and Alice Tidey contributed to this newsletter. Remember to sign up to receive Europe Today in your inbox every weekday morning at 08.30.
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