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This very day, a self-styled Alliance of the Determined, largely made up of European leaders, met in the French capital with delegates of the Trump administration, aiming to achieve further headway on a durable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to end the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that gathering desired to endanger retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that grand and luxurious gathering, and the prevailing mood was profoundly strained.

Bear in mind the events of the last few days: the US administration's divisive intervention in the South American nation and the US president's assertion shortly thereafter, that "our national security requires Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an autonomous territory of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was sitting opposite two influential personalities representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European allies to refrain from alienating the US over the Arctic question, lest that impacts US support for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have greatly desired to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from Washington and Denmark, leaders of major EU countries at the Paris meeting issued a communiqué asserting: "Greenland is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners like the America".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to rule on affairs concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the declaration further stated.

The announcement was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics say it was delayed to be formulated and, because of the restricted number of supporters to the declaration, it did not manage to show a European Union united in intent.

"If there had been a unified statement from all 27 EU partners, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a powerful warning to the US," commented a EU foreign policy analyst.

Ponder the irony at hand at the France meeting. Multiple European government and other officials, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to engage the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the hostile geopolitical designs of an external actor (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also persistently publicly undermining the sovereignty of a different European nation (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the defensive pact the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, profoundly strong partners. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, were Trump to make good on his desire to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an severe risk to NATO but also a major challenge for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not an isolated incident Trump has voiced his intention to control Greenland. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

Recently that the landmass is "crucially located right now, Greenland is patrolled by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Copenhagen is not going to be able to do it".

Denmark refutes that last statement. It has lately vowed to invest $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US maintains a defense installation presently on the island – founded at the beginning of the Cold War. It has scaled down the figure of staff there from approximately 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to approximately 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off polar defense, recently.

Denmark has suggested it is willing to talk about a larger US presence on the territory and further cooperation but faced with the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be taken seriously.

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

"The current crisis has just highlighted – once again – the EU's basic weakness {