U.S. President Donald Trump has sais French President Emmanuel Macron proposed holding a meeting in Paris on Thursday between the G7 countries and Russia, Ukraine, Syria and Denmark.

Mr Trump said the proposal was outlined in private text messages exchanged between the two leaders, which he shared on his Truth Social platform early Tuesday.

The Élysée Palace confirmed the authenticity of the messages to dpa.

In the messages posted on Truth Social, Mr Macron brings up Mr Trump’s demands that the U.S. acquire Greenland from Denmark, writing: “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”

Mr Trump argues that U.S. control over the world’s biggest island is necessary for U.S. and global security needs. His European NATO allies, which include Denmark, strictly oppose this.

Mr Trump will be in Europe for the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he is due to speak on Wednesday.

Mr Macron – as current chair of the Group of Seven Western industrialised nations – proposed that he set up a meeting of the G7 powers, plus Denmark, Russia, Ukraine, and Syria, for Thursday afternoon in Paris.

He then invited Mr Trump to have dinner with him in the evening.

The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

From 1998 until 2014, Russia was also a member of the group, and it was consequently known as the G8.

It was excluded following the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Mr Macron’s text to Mr Trump emphasised areas where France and the U.S. are cooperating.

He wrote: “We are totally in line in Syria. We can do great things in Iran.”

In Syria, France is working with the U.S. to promote unity and territorial integrity in Syria and to ensure compliance with the ceasefire, and remains loyal to its allies in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist militia.

Iran has been rocked this year by nationwide protests, and France called on the Iranian authorities to respect fundamental freedoms.

The next few days, however, are set to see a flurry of diplomatic activity over Greenland rather than the Middle East.

Mr Trump has said that “a meeting of the various parties” regarding his bid for Greenland would be held in Davos.

He said he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during a phone call about the meeting.

In another apparently private message posted on Mr Trump’s Truth Social platform early on Tuesday, Mr Rutte wrote that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he expects to meet Trump at Davos to discuss the Greenland dispute.

Greenland is an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark.

With a population of just under 57,000, Greenland has repeatedly said it does not wish to become part of the U.S.

NATO allies also say that Greenland does not need to be taken over by the U.S. to protect the Arctic.

(dpa/NAN)