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Just this morning, a self-styled Alliance of the Determined, largely made up of EU officials, gathered in Paris with representatives of the Trump administration, attempting to secure further advances on a durable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a roadmap to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that gathering wanted to endanger maintaining the Washington onboard.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that grand and glittering Paris meeting, and the prevailing atmosphere was exceptionally uneasy.

Consider the actions of the last few days: the US administration's controversial intervention in Venezuela and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint of national security".

This massive island is the world's largest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It is situated in the far north but is an self-governing possession of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned facing two key individuals speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European colleagues not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that affects US support for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have greatly desired to keep Greenland and the discussions on the war separate. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Denmark, representatives of leading EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a communiqué saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together, in conjunction with alliance members such as the US".

"It is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to decide on affairs regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration added.

The communique was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers argue it was slow to be drafted and, because of the limited number of signatories to the declaration, it was unable to demonstrate a European Union aligned in purpose.

"Were there a unified statement from all 27 member states, plus NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish sovereignty, that would have delivered a powerful signal to America," noted a European defense specialist.

Ponder the irony at hand at the France meeting. Several European government and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to engage the US administration in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an external actor (Moscow), immediately after the US has entered independent Venezuela with force, taking its president into custody, while also still actively undermining the sovereignty of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the defensive pact NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, extremely close allies. Or were.

The dilemma is, should Trump fulfill his desire to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound challenge for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance President Trump has spoken of his determination to acquire the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

On Sunday that the landmass is "so strategic right now, it is covered with foreign vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests and Copenhagen is not going to be able to handle it".

Copenhagen refutes that assertion. It has lately vowed to spend $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US has a strategic outpost presently on the island – founded at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the number of troops there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking the northern theater, recently.

Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US role on the island and further cooperation but in light of the US President's warning of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts throughout Europe are doing just that.

"These developments has just emphasized – yet again – the EU's fundamental weakness {