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This very day, a so-called Alliance of the Determined, mostly consisting of EU leaders, met in the French capital with delegates of US President Donald Trump, hoping to secure additional headway on a sustainable settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a roadmap to halt the war with Russia is "largely complete", nobody in that room wanted to risk retaining the US involved.

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

Recall the developments of the recent days: the Trump administration's divisive incursion in the South American nation and the American leader's assertion soon after, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's six times the area of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an semi-independent possession of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two key individuals representing Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European counterparts to refrain from provoking the US over the Greenland issue, lest that affects US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the debate on Ukraine distinct. But with the tensions escalating from Washington and Denmark, representatives of major European nations at the Paris meeting released a statement stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Defense in the North must therefore be secured jointly, in cooperation with treaty partners including the America".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to decide on issues related to the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration added.

The statement was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was tardy to be drafted and, owing to the limited group of endorsers to the statement, it failed to project a European Union united in objective.

"Had there been a common statement from all 27 EU partners, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have delivered a resounding warning to the US," noted a European foreign policy expert.

Ponder the paradox at work at the European gathering. Several European national and other officials, such as NATO and the EU, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the Trump administration in protecting the future autonomy of a continental state (Ukraine) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), just after the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also still actively undermining the autonomy of a different EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the military bloc NATO. They are, as stated by Danish officials, exceptionally key friends. Or were.

The issue is, if Trump were to make good on his desire to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a significant problem for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has voiced his determination to acquire the Arctic island. He's suggested buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

Recently that the landmass is "vitally important right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign naval assets all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Denmark is unable to do it".

Denmark refutes that assertion. It not long ago committed to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a mutual pact, the US operates a strategic outpost currently on Greenland – founded at the onset of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of staff there from approximately 10,000 during the height of the confrontation to about 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of overlooking polar defense, until now.

Denmark has signaled it is willing to talk about a larger US role on the territory and additional measures but faced with the US President's assertion of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to acquire Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts throughout Europe are taking it seriously.

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