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Iceland wants to shield Arctic from rising US-China tensions: PM
- ‘I have been very focused on making sure the Arctic stays a very low tension area,’ Katrín Jakobsdottir says
- Her comments followed a trip to Denmark by Pompeo during which he criticised China for designating itself a near-Arctic nation
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Iceland wants to protect the Arctic from rising global tensions between the United States and China, the Icelandic Prime Minister said on Thursday.
Her comments followed a trip to Denmark last week by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during which he criticised China for designating itself a near-Arctic nation.
“We have obviously seen a rise in tensions between the US and China,” said Katrín Jakobsdottir.
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“And obviously if you’re asking specifically about the Arctic then we also have seen a very growing interest of both US and the Chinese in the Arctic.
“So that’s something that we have sensed very clearly here in Iceland and really in all the Arctic region.”
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Pompeo’s visit to Copenhagen, during which he highlighted the “naivety” of Westerners in the Arctic in the face of the “new competition” with the Russians and the Chinese in the region, came a year after President Donald Trump’s contentious offer to buy Greenland from Denmark.
02:27
Russia wants to build up its Arctic route with China, its top diplomat to Beijing says
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