Rutte, speaking in a televised interview with Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," offered few details about the supposed "framework" for a deal announced by Trump after his talks with the NATO chief.

"We have a good agreement to really start working on these issues," Rutte said, echoing comments earlier to AFP that much work remained to reach an actual deal.

"That means that we both agreed, when you look at NATO and what NATO collectively can do to make sure that the whole Arctic region is safe," he said.

Asked if Greenland would remain a part of the Kingdom of Denmark under the deal, Rutte said: "That issue did not come up anymore in my conversations tonight with the president."

"He's very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region, where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and Russians are more and more active, how we can protect that," he added. "That was really the focus our discussions."