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Just this morning, a self-styled Coalition of the Determined, mostly composed of European heads of state, gathered in Paris with delegates of President Trump, aiming to secure more headway on a sustainable settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to end the conflict with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that meeting wanted to endanger retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that impressive and luxurious summit, and the fundamental atmosphere was extremely strained.

Bear in mind the actions of the past week: the US administration's divisive incursion in Venezuela and the US president's assertion following this, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an autonomous region of Copenhagen.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was sitting across from two influential personalities acting for 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 support for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have far preferred to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on the war distinct. But with the diplomatic heat rising from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of big European nations at the talks put out a declaration asserting: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in cooperation with alliance members like the United States".

"The decision is for Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to rule on affairs regarding Denmark and its autonomous territory," the statement further stated.

The statement was greeted by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was delayed to be drafted and, owing to the limited set of endorsers to the statement, it was unable to show a European Union in agreement in objective.

"If there had been a common position from all 27 member states, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish sovereignty, that would have sent a strong message to America," stated a EU foreign policy analyst.

Reflect on the contradiction at work at the European gathering. Several European government and other leaders, from the alliance and the EU, are attempting to secure the cooperation of the White House in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), immediately after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also still publicly challenging the sovereignty of a different continental ally (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both participants of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely key friends. Or were.

The dilemma is, were Trump to fulfill his desire to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a significant crisis for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has spoken of his determination to acquire the Arctic island. He's proposed purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

He insisted that the territory is "crucially located right now, it is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Copenhagen is not going to be able to handle it".

Copenhagen contests that claim. It has lately pledged to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a treaty, the US maintains a military base presently on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has cut the total of personnel there from about 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking the northern theater, until now.

Denmark has indicated it is open to discussion about a expanded US role on the territory and further cooperation but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges across Europe are heeding that warning.

"The current crisis has just underlined – yet again – the EU's basic shortcoming {