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This very day, a self-styled Alliance of the Willing, mostly composed of European heads of state, met in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, hoping to make additional progress on a sustainable settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a framework to halt the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", not a single person in that room wanted to risk maintaining the US involved.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that opulent and glittering Paris meeting, and the fundamental mood was extremely uneasy.

Bear in mind the actions of the last few days: the White House's controversial involvement in the South American nation and the President Trump's insistence following this, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

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

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was positioned across from two influential figures acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that impacts US support for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have greatly desired to keep Greenland and the negotiations on the war separate. But with the political temperature rising from Washington and Denmark, representatives of major EU countries at the talks issued a communiqué saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the North must therefore be secured jointly, in cooperation with NATO allies such as the US".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to rule on issues regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the statement further stated.

The announcement was received positively by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was slow to be drafted and, owing to the restricted number of supporters to the declaration, it failed to show a European Union aligned in objective.

"Had there been a joint statement from all 27 European Union countries, plus NATO ally the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have conveyed a strong message to the US," stated a EU defense expert.

Ponder the contradiction at hand at the European gathering. Several EU national and other leaders, including NATO and the EU, are seeking to engage the Trump administration in safeguarding the future independence of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an outside force (Moscow), on the heels of the US has entered sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also persistently openly undermining the sovereignty of a different European nation (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both members of the defensive pact NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, profoundly close allies. At least, they were.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his desire to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a profound problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has expressed his resolve to control the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of acquiring it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of a military seizure.

He insisted that the territory is "so strategic right now, it is covered with foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to do it".

Denmark contests that claim. It not long ago vowed to spend $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a mutual pact, the US has a defense installation already on the island – established at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the figure of staff there from approximately 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking Arctic Security, recently.

Copenhagen has suggested it is amenable to dialogue about a expanded US role on the island and further cooperation but in light of the US President's threat of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges across Europe are doing just that.

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