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Just this morning, a so-called Group of the Determined, predominantly consisting of EU officials, met in the French capital with envoys of US President Donald Trump, attempting to secure further progress on a lasting peace agreement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to end the war with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that meeting wanted to endanger keeping the Americans engaged.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that opulent and glittering Paris meeting, and the fundamental atmosphere was exceptionally strained.

Bear in mind the developments of the last few days: the US administration's controversial incursion in Venezuela and the US president's assertion following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's greatest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an autonomous possession of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was seated facing two powerful individuals representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European counterparts not to provoking the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US assistance for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have far preferred to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on the war apart. But with the political temperature rising from the White House and Denmark, representatives of major European nations at the Paris meeting released a declaration saying: "The island is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners such as the United States".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to determine on issues concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the statement continued.

The announcement was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was tardy to be drafted and, because of the limited number of endorsers to the statement, it failed to demonstrate a Europe aligned in objective.

"Had there been a unified position from all 27 EU partners, plus alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a strong signal to the US," noted a EU defense specialist.

Ponder the irony at work at the European gathering. Multiple EU government and other leaders, including the alliance and the European Union, are trying to involve the Trump administration in safeguarding the future independence of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist land claims of an foreign power (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also persistently openly challenging the sovereignty of a further EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, according to Danish officials, exceptionally close allies. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, were Trump to act upon his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound challenge for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is not the first time President Trump has voiced his intention to acquire Greenland. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

He insisted that the landmass is "vitally important right now, it is frequented by Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Copenhagen is not going to be able to handle it".

Denmark refutes that last statement. It has lately pledged to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a treaty, the US maintains a military base presently on Greenland – established at the start of the Cold War. It has cut the figure of troops there from about 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to approximately 200 and the US has often been faulted of neglecting the northern theater, up to this point.

Denmark has signaled it is willing to talk about a bigger US footprint on the territory and further cooperation but confronted by the US President's warning of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her fellow leaders across Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – once again – Europe's fundamental vulnerability {