Foreign secretary David Lammy has played down US president-elect Donald Trump's threats to acquire Greenland. The Arctic territory is controlled by Denmark but is also home to a US military base and also has oil drilling and mineral mining potential.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said on Friday he was ready to speak with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants control over the Arctic island, and urged respect for the island's independence aspirations.

European leaders this week expressed confusion and pushed back against President-elect Donald Trump's refusal to rule out using military force to take over Greenland.

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to make Greenland an American territory, but residents of the Arctic island aren't taking the threat too seriously, saying their land isn’t up for grabs.

Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede has expressed readiness to negotiate with Donald Trump. This comes shortly after the future US leader's statement about his desire to control the island, Reuters reports.

European leaders reacted to Trump's statement at a press conference on Tuesday that he would not rule out military action to take control of Greenland. He had earlier vowed to slap high tariffs on Denmark if it refused to cede its autonomous territory.