NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday pushed back against President Donald Trump's claims that European allies would not help defend the United States if asked.
"He said last night in his presser that he was doubtful whether the Europeans would come to the rescue if Article Five will be triggered. I tell him, yes they will," Rutte said at the World Economic Forum.
"I have no doubt the US will come to the rescue here, and we will come to the rescue of the US," he added.
Commenting on tensions over Greenland, Rutte however stressed that "thoughtful diplomacy" was needed to deal with it.
"I see that there are these tensions at the moment, there's no doubt. Again, I'm not going to comment on that, but I can assure you, the only way to deal with that is, in the end, thoughtful diplomacy," he said.
Rutte's comments came shortly after former alliance chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on the European leaders to stop "flattering" Trump stating that NATO is facing the biggest crisis in its history with the US president's threats over Greenland.
"We have to change strategy and conclude that the only thing that Trump respects is force, strength and unity," Rasmussen said.
"That's exactly what Europe should demonstrate. The time for flattering is over. Enough is enough," he stressed.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said that Europeans should avoid "reflexive anger" and sit down with Trump in Davos to hear his arguments about acquiring Greenland.
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort has been overshadowed by a showdown between Trump and European leaders over the US President's ambitions to seize the Danish autonomous territory.
"I will tell everyone: take a deep breath. Do not have this reflexive anger that we've seen and this bitterness," Bessent told reporters.
"Why don't they sit down, wait for President Trump to get here and listen to his argument because I think they are going to be persuaded," he said.
Bessent said Trump would arrive in Davos about three hours late after an electrical issue forced him to change planes.
Trump insists that mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told the meeting of global political and business elites on Tuesday that the 27-nation bloc would be "unflinching" in its response to Trump's threats over Greenland.
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to stand up against "bullies".
Bessent said the statements from the EU and French leaders were "inflammatory".
"We are asking our allies to understand that Greenland needs to be part of the United States," the US Treasury chief said.
Bessent recalled that Denmark had sold Caribbean territories to the United States in 1917, which were renamed the US Virgin Islands.
He said Denmark, which was neutral during World War I, "understood then the importance of the US Virgin Islands. They were worried about the German ramifications and if the war spread to the Caribbean, and the US needed the US Virgin Islands."
France on Wednesday called for NATO to hold an exercise in Greenland and said it was ready to contribute to it.
"If this is all President Macron has to do when... the French budget is in shambles, I would suggest that he focuses on other things for the French people," Bessent said.