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This very day, a informal Group of the Determined, largely composed of European leaders, convened in Paris with delegates of President Trump, aiming to secure additional headway on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to halt the conflict with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that gathering wanted to endanger maintaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an colossal unspoken issue in that grand and glittering gathering, and the prevailing tension was profoundly uneasy.

Consider the developments of the past week: the Trump administration's controversial incursion in the South American nation and the US president's assertion following this, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's six times the size of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic but is an autonomous possession of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two key personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over the Arctic question, in case that undermines US support for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have greatly desired to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on the war apart. But with the tensions rising from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of major European nations at the talks released a statement saying: "The island is part of the alliance. Stability in the North must therefore be achieved jointly, in partnership with alliance members including the United States".

"It is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to determine on matters related to the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the communiqué continued.

The announcement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was tardy to be formulated and, because of the limited number of signatories to the statement, it did not manage to show a Europe in agreement in objective.

"If there had been a joint statement from all 27 European Union countries, plus alliance partner the UK, in defense of Danish sovereignty, that would have conveyed a strong signal to Washington," stated a EU defense specialist.

Reflect on the contradiction at hand at the Paris summit. Several European government and other officials, such as NATO and the EU, are trying to involve the US administration in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an foreign power (Russia), immediately after the US has swooped into independent Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to actively challenging the sovereignty of another EU member (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, extremely close allies. Or were.

The dilemma is, if Trump were to act upon his desire to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an existential threat to NATO but also a profound problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance President Trump has voiced his determination to acquire Greenland. He's proposed purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

He insisted that the island is "crucially located right now, Greenland is covered with foreign vessels all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Denmark is unable to provide security".

Denmark refutes that claim. It has lately pledged to spend $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US operates a military base currently on Greenland – established at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the figure of personnel there from about 10,000 during peak the confrontation to about 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking the northern theater, recently.

Denmark has signaled it is open to discussion about a bigger US footprint on the island and additional measures but confronted by the US President's assertion of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

Following the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts throughout Europe are doing just that.

"These developments has just highlighted – for the umpteenth time – Europe's core weakness {