A 15-strong French military contingent has arrived in the Greenland capital Nuuk, as several European states send soldiers there as part of a so-called reconnaissance mission.
The deployment, which will also include personnel from Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK, comes as US President Donald Trump continues to press his claim to the Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the initial troop deployment would be reinforced in the coming days with land, air, and sea assets.
Senior French diplomat Olivier Poivre d'Arvor saw the mission as sending a strong political signal: This is a first exercise... we'll show the US that NATO is present.
The movement of military personnel comes after Denmark and Greenland's foreign ministers travelled to Washington for a meeting with US Vice-President JD Vance on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said while the talks were constructive, there remained a fundamental disagreement between the two sides and later criticised Trump's bid to buy Greenland.
Trump, meanwhile, doubled down on his bid to bring Greenland under US control, telling reporters in the Oval Office, we need Greenland for national security. Although he did not rule out the use of force, he said late on Wednesday that he thought something could be worked out with Denmark.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland was not planning to join the European military deployment to Greenland, but warned that any US military intervention there would be a political disaster.
Russia's embassy in Belgium expressed serious concern at what was unfolding in the Arctic, accusing NATO of building up a military presence there under the false pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing.
However, the European NATO deployment consists of only a few dozen personnel as part of Danish-led joint exercises called Operation Arctic Endurance. While heavy in symbolism, it was not immediately clear how long they would stay.
Germany was sending an A400M transport plane to Nuuk on Thursday with a contingent of 13 soldiers, although officials said they would stay in Greenland only until Saturday.
Danish defence officials said they had decided with the government of Greenland that there would be an increased military presence around Greenland in the coming period to bolster NATO's footprint in the Arctic for the benefit of both European and transatlantic security.
Macron, in his new year address to France's armed forces, said Europeans had a special responsibility to Greenland because this territory belongs to the European Union and it's also one of our NATO allies.
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was to have a military presence in rotation, with the aim of having a more permanent military presence on the island with foreign allies taking part in exercise and training activities.
Copenhagen has disputed Trump's justification for wanting to control Greenland. Rasmussen said on Wednesday there was no instant threat from China or Russia that Denmark and Greenland could not accommodate, although he shared American security concerns to some extent.
A Democratic-led US delegation is due to visit Denmark on Friday for talks with Danish MPs.
Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has stated that his people would prefer to be governed by Denmark rather than the US, amidst ongoing discussions about sovereignty and security in the Arctic.
