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Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Willing, predominantly composed of European leaders, met in the French capital with delegates of President Trump, attempting to secure further headway on a lasting settlement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to end the conflict with Russia is "nearly finalized", no-one in that gathering desired to endanger keeping the Washington involved.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that impressive and sparkling Paris meeting, and the fundamental tension was extremely uneasy.

Bear in mind the events of the past week: the White House's contentious incursion in the South American nation and the US president's declaration shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It is located in the far north but is an semi-independent region of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two key personalities acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU counterparts to avoid alienating the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that undermines US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to separate the Arctic dispute and the debate on the war distinct. But with the political temperature mounting from the White House and Denmark, representatives of big European nations at the gathering put out a statement stating: "The island is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in cooperation with NATO allies including the United States".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to rule on affairs related to Denmark and its autonomous territory," the communiqué further stated.

The statement was welcomed by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics argue it was slow to be put together and, because of the restricted set of endorsers to the declaration, it was unable to show a Europe in agreement in objective.

"If there had been a unified declaration from all 27 member states, plus alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have sent a powerful message to America," noted a EU foreign policy specialist.

Ponder the contradiction at play at the France meeting. Several EU national and other officials, such as the alliance and the EU, are trying to engage the White House in safeguarding the future sovereignty of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile land claims of an external actor (Moscow), on the heels of the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela militarily, detaining its leader, while also persistently openly undermining the autonomy of a different European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Danish officials, profoundly strong partners. Or were.

The issue is, were Trump to make good on his desire to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an severe risk to NATO but also a profound challenge for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance Trump has spoken of his determination to dominate the Arctic island. He's suggested acquiring it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of forcible annexation.

He insisted that the island is "vitally important right now, it is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Copenhagen strongly denies that claim. It recently pledged to allocate $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a strategic outpost currently on the island – set up at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the number of staff there from about 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has long been accused of taking its eye off Arctic Security, up to this point.

Denmark has indicated it is amenable to dialogue about a expanded US presence on the territory and more but confronted by the US President's assertion of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

After the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges across Europe are taking it seriously.

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