Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, spoke on Wednesday in Paris of the challenges already posed to U.S. alliances by the imminent return of Donald J. Trump to the White House, and said they believed that an American takeover of Greenland was an impossible idea.
But they also asserted that their nations would try to continue working together through potential political turbulence in the coming years, including on the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East.
European leaders have been focused in recent days on what many consider inflammatory statements from Mr. Trump and his allies. The president-elect has said he would like to make Greenland part of the United States. The autonomous territory is controlled by Denmark, a NATO ally. And a senior adviser, the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has declared his support for a far-right political party in Germany.
“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen,” Mr. Blinken said at a news conference with Mr. Barrot. “So we probably shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about it.”
He prefaced that with advice clearly intended for Mr. Trump: “We’re stronger, we’re more effective, we get better results when we’re working closely with our allies, not saying things that may alienate them.”
Mr. Barrot agreed that he did not think the United States would invade Greenland, but said: “Do we think that we are entering a period in which we’re returning to the law of the jungle? The answer is yes.”