Nuuk, Mar 30 (AP) The prime minister of Greenland pushed back Sunday against assertions by US President Donald Trump that America will take control of the island territory.

Greenland, a huge, resource-rich island in the Atlantic, is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States.

Also Read | Earthequake in Tonga: 2nd Quake in 24 Hours Jolts Tonga Islands.

Trump wants to annex the territory, claiming it's needed for national security purposes.

“President Trump says that the United States will get Greenland.' Let me be clear: The United States will not get it. We do not belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: 2 Killed and Dozens Wounded in Russian Attack on Kharkiv; Donald Trump Lashes Out at Vladimir Putin.

Nielsen's post comes a day after the US president told NBC News that military force wasn't off the table with regard to acquiring Greenland.

In Saturday's interview, Trump allowed that “I think there's a good possibility that we could do it without military force.”

“This is world peace, this is international security,” he said, but added: “I don't take anything off the table.”

Greenland's residents and politicians have reacted with anger to Trump's repeated suggestions, with Danish leaders also pushing back.

Trump also said “I don't care,” when asked in the NBC interview what message this would send to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has invaded Ukraine and annexed several of its provinces in defiance of international law. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)