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Just this morning, a self-styled Coalition of the Determined, mostly composed of EU leaders, met in Paris with delegates of President Trump, hoping to secure further headway on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to halt the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that room desired to jeopardise maintaining the Washington engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal elephant in the room in that opulent and glittering summit, and the prevailing tension was profoundly tense.

Recall the actions of the last few days: the US administration's divisive incursion in the South American nation and the US president's insistence following this, that "our national security requires Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's sixfold the area of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an self-governing possession of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two key figures speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from European colleagues to refrain from alienating the US over the Greenland issue, in case that affects US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war distinct. But with the diplomatic heat rising from Washington and Denmark, representatives of leading European nations at the Paris meeting put out a statement asserting: "The island is part of the alliance. Stability in the North must therefore be secured collectively, in conjunction with treaty partners like the United States".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on matters concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the declaration further stated.

The statement was received positively by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was slow to be drafted and, due to the restricted number of endorsers to the statement, it did not manage to project a Europe aligned in intent.

"If there had been a common declaration from all 27 EU partners, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a strong message to Washington," commented a EU foreign policy specialist.

Consider the paradox at hand at the European gathering. Several European national and other officials, such as the alliance and the European Union, are trying to involve the White House in safeguarding the future sovereignty of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive land claims of an outside force (Moscow), immediately after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, detaining its leader, while also continuing to publicly threatening the autonomy of another EU member (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, exceptionally key friends. Or were.

The issue is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is far from the first instance President Trump has voiced his determination to control the Arctic island. He's proposed acquiring it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of a military seizure.

He insisted that the landmass is "crucially located right now, Greenland is frequented by foreign vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Copenhagen is incapable to do it".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It recently vowed to invest $4bn in the island's defense encompassing 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 total of staff there from around 10,000 during peak that era to around 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking Arctic Security, recently.

Denmark has suggested it is willing to talk about a bigger US presence on the island and more but faced with the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

Following the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges across Europe are doing just that.

"The current crisis has just emphasized – once again – Europe's basic vulnerability {