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Just this morning, a informal Alliance of the Committed, mostly consisting of European leaders, convened in the French capital with envoys of President Trump, hoping to achieve additional advances on a durable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to end the conflict with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that gathering desired to jeopardise keeping the Americans involved.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that opulent and sparkling summit, and the prevailing atmosphere was extremely strained.

Bear in mind the developments of the past week: the Trump administration's contentious involvement in Venezuela and the US president's declaration soon after, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic but is an autonomous territory of Copenhagen.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was positioned facing two key figures speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from her EU colleagues to avoid provoking the US over the Greenland issue, in case that affects US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have much rather to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war distinct. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of leading European nations at the Paris meeting released a declaration saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be secured together, in partnership with treaty partners such as the US".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them alone, to determine on affairs concerning Denmark and Greenland," the statement added.

The communique was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was delayed to be formulated and, owing to the restricted set of signatories to the statement, it failed to project a European Union aligned in objective.

"Had there been a unified declaration from all 27 EU partners, plus NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish control, that would have sent a strong signal to America," commented a European foreign policy expert.

Ponder the irony at work at the European gathering. Numerous EU national and other leaders, such as the alliance and the European Union, are trying to involve the US administration in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist land claims of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also persistently publicly undermining the autonomy of another European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, exceptionally key friends. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, were Trump to fulfill his desire to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident Trump has voiced his resolve to dominate Greenland. He's proposed purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

Recently that the landmass is "crucially located right now, Greenland is frequented by foreign ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to do it".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It recently vowed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a mutual pact, the US operates a defense installation presently on the island – set up at the onset of the Cold War. It has scaled down the figure of personnel there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of neglecting polar defense, recently.

Denmark has indicated it is willing to talk about a bigger US presence on the island and more but confronted by the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts across Europe are taking it seriously.

"The current crisis has just emphasized – for the umpteenth time – the EU's core shortcoming {