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Earlier today, a informal Alliance of the Willing, largely made up of EU officials, met in the French capital with delegates of the Trump administration, hoping to secure further progress on a sustainable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a roadmap to end the conflict with Russia is "nearly finalized", not a single person in that room desired to risk keeping the US involved.

Yet, there was an colossal elephant in the room in that grand and glittering summit, and the underlying mood was profoundly strained.

Consider the developments of the last few days: the White House's divisive intervention in the South American nation and the American leader's insistence following this, that "we need Greenland from the perspective of defense".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's greatest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic but is an semi-independent possession of Copenhagen.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was sitting facing two influential individuals representing Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over the Greenland issue, lest that affects US backing for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have much rather to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on the war apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from Washington and Denmark, leaders of big states at the Paris meeting put out a communiqué stating: "This territory is part of NATO. Defense in the North must therefore be achieved jointly, in partnership with alliance members such as the US".

"The decision is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on matters regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the statement added.

The communique was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was slow to be formulated and, owing to the restricted number of endorsers to the statement, it failed to demonstrate a European Union aligned in intent.

"Were there a joint position from all 27 member states, along with alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish authority, that would have delivered a powerful signal to Washington," stated a European foreign policy analyst.

Ponder the contradiction at play at the Paris summit. Multiple EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to engage the US administration in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a European country (Ukraine) against the aggressive territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, taking its president into custody, while also still actively threatening the sovereignty of a further EU member (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. At least, they were.

The issue is, if Trump were to fulfill his goal to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major problem for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not the first time President Trump has voiced his intention to control Greenland. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of taking it by force.

He insisted that the territory is "crucially located right now, Greenland is frequented by foreign ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests and Denmark is incapable to do it".

Denmark refutes that claim. It recently committed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a treaty, the US operates a strategic outpost currently on Greenland – set up at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of troops there from approximately 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of neglecting polar defense, up to this point.

Copenhagen has suggested it is open to discussion about a expanded US presence on the island and more but confronted by the US President's threat of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts throughout Europe are taking it seriously.

"These developments has just highlighted – for the umpteenth time – the EU's core shortcoming {