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This very day, a self-styled Coalition of the Willing, largely made up of European heads of state, gathered in Paris with delegates of President Trump, attempting to achieve additional headway on a sustainable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to conclude the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", nobody in that meeting wished to endanger maintaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that opulent and luxurious Paris meeting, and the fundamental atmosphere was profoundly uneasy.

Bear in mind the actions of the past week: the Trump administration's contentious incursion in Venezuela and the American leader's insistence soon after, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It lies in the far north but is an autonomous possession of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was positioned across from two key personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European colleagues not to provoking the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US support for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have much rather to keep Greenland and the debate on the war distinct. But with the diplomatic heat rising from Washington and Denmark, representatives of leading European nations at the Paris meeting issued a declaration asserting: "This territory is part of the alliance. Security in the North must therefore be secured together, in partnership with alliance members including the US".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to rule on matters regarding Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué continued.

The announcement was welcomed by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was delayed to be put together and, due to the restricted set of endorsers to the statement, it failed to project a European Union united in intent.

"Had there been a unified declaration from all 27 member states, along with alliance partner the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's authority, that would have delivered a resounding warning to America," noted a European defense specialist.

Consider the irony at hand at the Paris summit. Several EU government and other leaders, including the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to engage the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an foreign power (Russia), on the heels of the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, detaining its leader, while also persistently publicly threatening the autonomy of a different EU member (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, exceptionally key friends. Previously, they were considered so.

The question is, were Trump to make good on his desire to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a profound problem for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not the first time Trump has spoken of his determination to acquire the Arctic island. He's suggested acquiring it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

On Sunday that the territory is "crucially located right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to handle it".

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

Under a mutual pact, the US maintains a military base presently on the island – set up at the onset of the Cold War. It has reduced the number of staff there from around 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, until now.

Denmark has suggested it is open to discussion about a larger US footprint on the territory and more but in light of the US President's threat of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

In the wake of the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts in Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just emphasized – yet again – the EU's fundamental weakness {