It's crunch time. The US Vice President, JD Vance, is hosting the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers, along with their US counterpart, Marco Rubio, in the White House on Wednesday. The focus of the talks: the future of the world's biggest island, Greenland.

A large digital news ticker running above the snow-covered shopping mall in Nuuk starkly displays the words 'Trump,' 'Greenland,' and 'sovereignty.' Donald Trump has made headlines, implying he wants the territory and will take it 'the easy way or the hard way.' Recent US military actions in Venezuela have heightened local anxieties about his intentions.

Passers-by in Nuuk express a sense of urgency, fearing the future for their young families amid this international spotlight. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen emphasizes the desire for independence from Denmark and a rejection of any notion of becoming American. Despite sentiments toward US interests, an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders resist the idea of losing sovereignty.

Geopolitical tensions escalate as Denmark warns against any attempted forceful acquisition of Greenland, asserting such actions could dismantle NATO alliances and fracture US-European relationships. With Trump's focus on Greenland tied to national security narratives, NATO members are scrambling to propose military reinforcements in the Arctic, particularly due to perceived threats from Russia and China.

The outcomes of this pivotal meeting remain uncertain as both Greenland's future and the international dynamics in the Arctic hang in the balance.