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Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Willing, mostly composed of EU leaders, convened in Paris with delegates of the Trump administration, aiming to make additional advances on a lasting settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a framework to end the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that room desired to jeopardise maintaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that impressive and sparkling Paris meeting, and the underlying tension was extremely tense.

Consider the actions of the last few days: the US administration's controversial intervention in Venezuela and the President Trump's assertion soon after, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of national security".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's six times the area of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an self-governing territory of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two powerful personalities representing Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European allies to refrain from antagonising the US over Greenland, for fear that that affects US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war apart. But with the political temperature rising from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of big European nations at the talks put out a statement stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Security in the Arctic must therefore be secured collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners including the America".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to decide on affairs regarding Denmark and its autonomous territory," the declaration added.

The communique was greeted by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers argue it was delayed to be formulated and, owing to the small set of supporters to the statement, it failed to show a European Union aligned in intent.

"If there had been a joint position from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in support of Copenhagen's authority, that would have delivered a resounding message to Washington," commented a European defense analyst.

Ponder the paradox at play at the France meeting. Multiple European government and other officials, from the alliance and the EU, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the White House in safeguarding the future autonomy of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the expansionist land claims of an foreign power (Moscow), on the heels of the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also still actively threatening the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both members of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. At least, they were.

The question is, should Trump make good on his goal to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major crisis for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is not the first time Trump has expressed his intention to dominate the Arctic island. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also not excluded taking it by force.

On Sunday that the territory is "crucially located right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to do it".

Copenhagen refutes that claim. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a military base already on the island – established at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has cut the figure of troops there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off Arctic Security, until now.

Copenhagen has suggested it is amenable to dialogue about a bigger US presence on the territory and more but confronted by the US President's warning of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to control Greenland should be treated with gravity.

Following the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders across Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just emphasized – yet again – Europe's fundamental shortcoming {