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This very day, a informal Coalition of the Determined, mostly consisting of EU heads of state, gathered in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, aiming to make more headway on a lasting settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to conclude the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that room wanted to risk maintaining the Washington onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that grand and sparkling gathering, and the underlying atmosphere was extremely strained.

Recall the developments of the recent days: the Trump administration's controversial intervention in Venezuela and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was positioned facing two key figures representing Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU colleagues not to antagonising the US over the Greenland issue, lest that impacts US support for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war apart. But with the political temperature rising from the White House and Denmark, representatives of leading European nations at the gathering issued a communiqué stating: "The island is part of the alliance. Defense in the North must therefore be attained together, in partnership with alliance members like the US".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to determine on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," the statement continued.

The communique was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was tardy to be formulated and, due to the small number of endorsers to the statement, it was unable to show a Europe aligned in intent.

"Were there a common position from all 27 member states, along with alliance partner the UK, in support of Danish control, that would have delivered a resounding warning to the US," commented a European defense specialist.

Reflect on the irony at hand at the France meeting. Multiple European national and other leaders, including NATO and the European Union, are trying to involve the Trump administration in protecting the future sovereignty of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive land claims of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to publicly threatening the territorial integrity of a different EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Danish officials, extremely close allies. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, were Trump to make good on his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance President Trump has spoken of his resolve to control the Arctic island. He's suggested buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

On Sunday that the island is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests and Denmark is not going to be able to provide security".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It not long ago vowed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a mutual pact, the US operates a military base currently on Greenland – founded at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the number of staff there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off polar defense, until now.

Copenhagen has suggested it is open to discussion about a bigger US presence on the island and more but in light of the US President's assertion of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to control Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

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

"These developments has just emphasized – once again – Europe's fundamental shortcoming {