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This very day, a informal Group of the Committed, predominantly consisting of European heads of state, met in Paris with representatives of the Trump administration, hoping to achieve more progress on a durable settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to conclude the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", nobody in that gathering wanted to endanger maintaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that impressive and sparkling Paris meeting, and the underlying atmosphere was profoundly tense.

Bear in mind the events of the last few days: the US administration's divisive involvement in Venezuela and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an autonomous region of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was seated across from two powerful personalities acting for Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European colleagues to refrain from alienating the US over the Arctic question, lest that undermines US support for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have much rather to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine separate. But with the diplomatic heat mounting from the White House and Denmark, representatives of major European nations at the talks issued a communiqué saying: "Greenland is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in partnership with alliance members including the US".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to determine on issues related to Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was received positively by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts contend it was slow to be drafted and, due to the limited group of endorsers to the statement, it was unable to show a European Union aligned in purpose.

"Were there a unified statement from all 27 European Union countries, along with alliance partner the UK, in defense of Danish sovereignty, that would have sent a strong signal to America," noted a EU foreign policy specialist.

Consider the contradiction at hand at the European gathering. Numerous EU national and other officials, including the alliance and the European Union, are attempting to involve the White House in safeguarding the future sovereignty of a European country (Ukraine) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also still publicly challenging the autonomy of a further continental ally (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both signatories of the defensive pact the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely close allies. Previously, they were considered so.

The dilemma is, if Trump were to fulfill his desire to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a significant problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is not the first time President Trump has expressed his intention to control Greenland. He's proposed acquiring it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

He insisted that the island is "vitally important right now, it is frequented by foreign vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to provide security".

Denmark contests that claim. It recently vowed to invest $4bn in the island's defense for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a mutual pact, the US maintains a military base currently on the island – founded at the onset of the Cold War. It has reduced the number of troops there from about 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking polar defense, up to this point.

Denmark has signaled it is willing to talk about a expanded US presence on the territory and more but confronted by the US President's threat of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that the US leader's goal to control Greenland should be treated with gravity.

Following the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders in Europe are doing just that.

"These developments has just underlined – for the umpteenth time – the EU's basic vulnerability {