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This very day, a informal Coalition of the Committed, largely composed of European officials, convened in the French capital with representatives of President Trump, hoping to make more headway on a lasting peace agreement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", nobody in that meeting wanted to endanger maintaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that opulent and sparkling Paris meeting, and the prevailing tension was extremely tense.

Recall the developments of the past week: the Trump administration's divisive involvement in Venezuela and the American leader's assertion soon after, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of national security".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent possession of Copenhagen.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two powerful figures acting for Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU colleagues to refrain from provoking the US over the Greenland issue, in case that undermines US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to separate Greenland and the discussions on the war separate. But with the diplomatic heat mounting from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of big states at the talks issued a declaration saying: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together, in partnership with NATO allies such as the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them alone, to decide on affairs concerning Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué continued.

The statement was received positively by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts contend it was tardy to be put together and, because of the small set of signatories to the declaration, it failed to project a European Union aligned in objective.

"If there had been a common declaration from all 27 member states, plus NATO ally the UK, in backing of Danish sovereignty, that would have sent a strong warning to Washington," noted a EU defense analyst.

Consider the contradiction at play at the Paris summit. Numerous EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to involve the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a European country (Ukraine) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an outside force (Russia), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to actively challenging the sovereignty of a different European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the military bloc NATO. They are, as stated by Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, if Trump were to fulfill his goal to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an existential threat to NATO but also a profound problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has voiced his resolve to control Greenland. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

On Sunday that the territory is "so strategic right now, it is frequented by foreign naval assets all over the place. We need Greenland from the perspective of defense and Denmark is unable to handle it".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It recently committed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a treaty, the US maintains a strategic outpost currently on the island – established at the start 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 frequently been criticized of taking its eye off polar defense, until now.

Copenhagen has indicated it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US role on the island and more but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to control Greenland should be treated with gravity.

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

"The current crisis has just underlined – yet again – Europe's core vulnerability {