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This very day, a informal Group of the Determined, predominantly made up of EU leaders, gathered in Paris with representatives of the Trump administration, aiming to make further headway on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a framework to conclude the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", nobody in that room wished to risk maintaining the Washington involved.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that grand and sparkling summit, and the underlying mood was profoundly tense.

Bear in mind the developments of the last few days: the US administration's controversial intervention in Venezuela and the American leader's insistence soon after, that "our national security requires Greenland from the perspective of defense".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's largest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent region of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was seated opposite two key figures representing Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU colleagues not to alienating the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that affects US support for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have far preferred to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on Ukraine distinct. But with the tensions escalating from the White House and Denmark, representatives of big EU countries at the talks released a declaration asserting: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be secured together, in conjunction with treaty partners such as the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to determine on affairs related to the kingdom and Greenland," the statement further stated.

The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was delayed to be drafted and, because of the restricted number of supporters to the statement, it was unable to project a Europe united in objective.

"Were there a joint position from all 27 member states, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have conveyed a powerful warning to America," commented a European foreign policy analyst.

Ponder the contradiction at play at the France meeting. Several European national and other leaders, such as the alliance and the EU, are trying to engage the White House in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela militarily, detaining its leader, while also continuing to publicly challenging the sovereignty of another European nation (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the military bloc NATO. They are, as stated by Danish officials, profoundly key friends. Or were.

The issue is, should Trump act upon his desire to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound crisis for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is far from the first instance President Trump has expressed his intention to acquire the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

He insisted that the island is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Copenhagen is not going to be able to do it".

Copenhagen refutes that assertion. It has lately committed to spend $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a military base already on Greenland – founded at the onset of the Cold War. It has scaled down the figure of personnel there from about 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of neglecting polar defense, until now.

Denmark has indicated it is willing to talk about a expanded US presence on the territory 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 taken seriously.

Following the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders across Europe are taking it seriously.

"These developments has just highlighted – once again – Europe's fundamental vulnerability {