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Just this morning, a self-styled Alliance of the Committed, largely composed of EU heads of state, gathered in Paris with envoys of President Trump, attempting to secure additional headway on a sustainable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a roadmap to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that room wanted to endanger retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an immense glaring omission in that grand and glittering gathering, and the prevailing atmosphere was exceptionally uneasy.

Recall the actions of the recent days: the White House's contentious intervention in the South American nation and the President Trump's insistence soon after, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's sixfold the dimensions of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting opposite two powerful personalities representing Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU colleagues to avoid antagonising the US over the Greenland issue, for fear that that impacts US backing for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have far preferred to separate the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine distinct. But with the political temperature mounting from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of major states at the gathering released a statement saying: "This territory is part of the alliance. Stability in the North must therefore be achieved collectively, in cooperation with alliance members including the United States".

"It is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to rule on matters related to Denmark and its autonomous territory," the declaration further stated.

The statement was received positively by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers argue it was tardy to be formulated and, owing to the small set of signatories to the declaration, it failed to demonstrate a Europe in agreement in purpose.

"Had there been a unified declaration from all 27 member states, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's control, that would have sent a resounding warning to Washington," commented a European defense specialist.

Reflect on the contradiction at play at the European gathering. Multiple European national and other officials, from NATO and the EU, are trying to involve the White House in protecting the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, taking its president into custody, while also still publicly undermining the territorial integrity of another continental ally (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the military bloc NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, extremely 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 severe risk to NATO but also a major challenge for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not the first time President Trump has spoken of his resolve to dominate Greenland. He's suggested buying it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

Recently that the territory is "crucially located right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of defense and Copenhagen is incapable to do it".

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

As per a mutual pact, the US has a defense installation presently on Greenland – founded at the start of the Cold War. It has reduced the total of troops there from around 10,000 during peak that era to approximately 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of overlooking Arctic Security, up to this point.

Denmark has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US footprint on the island and more but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges in Europe are doing just that.

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