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Earlier today, a so-called Coalition of the Willing, mostly made up of EU leaders, met in the French capital with envoys of President Trump, aiming to make additional headway on a sustainable peace agreement for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a framework to end the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that meeting desired to endanger keeping the Americans involved.

Yet, there was an colossal elephant in the room in that grand and glittering Paris meeting, and the fundamental atmosphere was extremely tense.

Recall the events of the last few days: the Trump administration's controversial intervention in the South American nation and the American leader's declaration following this, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of national security".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an self-governing territory of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting opposite two key individuals acting for Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU counterparts not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, lest that undermines US support for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have far preferred to separate the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine separate. But with the diplomatic heat rising from the White House and Denmark, leaders of big states at the gathering released a communiqué saying: "The island is part of NATO. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be secured collectively, in cooperation with alliance members like the America".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to determine on matters concerning Denmark and its autonomous territory," the declaration continued.

The announcement was received positively by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics argue it was tardy to be formulated and, due to the restricted set of supporters to the declaration, it did not manage to project a Europe in agreement in objective.

"Had there been a common statement from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish sovereignty, that would have delivered a resounding signal to Washington," commented a EU defense expert.

Reflect on the contradiction at play at the Paris summit. Multiple EU government and other leaders, including NATO and the European Union, are attempting to secure the cooperation of the White House in protecting the future independence of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the expansionist land claims of an foreign power (Russia), just after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also persistently publicly undermining the sovereignty of another European nation (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, according to Copenhagen, extremely close allies. Or were.

The dilemma is, should Trump act upon his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

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

Recently that the island is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the perspective of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to provide security".

Denmark contests that claim. It recently vowed to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US operates a defense installation already on Greenland – established at the start of the Cold War. It has cut the total of staff there from approximately 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has long been accused of neglecting the northern theater, up to this point.

Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US presence on the island and additional measures but in light of the US President's threat of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

In the wake of the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts across Europe are taking it seriously.

"The current crisis has just highlighted – yet again – Europe's core shortcoming {