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Just this morning, a self-styled Coalition of the Committed, predominantly consisting of EU heads of state, convened in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, hoping to make further progress on a lasting settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a framework to end the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that room wanted to endanger retaining the US onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that grand and luxurious summit, and the prevailing atmosphere was profoundly tense.

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

The vast Arctic territory is the world's largest island – it's sixfold the dimensions of Germany. It lies in the Arctic but is an self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two powerful figures acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU colleagues to avoid provoking the US over the Greenland issue, for fear that that impacts US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have greatly desired to keep Greenland and the discussions on Ukraine separate. But with the tensions rising from the White House and Denmark, representatives of big European nations at the Paris meeting released a communiqué stating: "The island is part of NATO. Defense in the North must therefore be achieved collectively, in partnership with alliance members like the US".

"It is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to determine on matters regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the statement added.

The communique was received positively by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was slow to be formulated and, owing to the limited number of signatories to the declaration, it failed to demonstrate a Europe aligned in objective.

"Were there a joint declaration from all 27 European Union countries, along with NATO ally the UK, in support of Danish control, that would have sent a resounding message to America," commented a European foreign policy expert.

Consider the irony at hand at the Paris summit. Numerous European national and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to engage the White House in safeguarding the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has swooped into independent Venezuela with force, detaining its leader, while also persistently publicly challenging the sovereignty of a different EU member (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, extremely key friends. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, were Trump to act upon his goal to bring Greenland under US control, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound crisis for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident Trump has voiced his intention to control the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

He insisted that the landmass is "crucially located right now, Greenland is frequented by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of strategic interests and Copenhagen is incapable to provide security".

Copenhagen refutes that assertion. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in the island's defense for boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a treaty, the US has a strategic outpost currently on Greenland – founded at the start of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the number of staff there from around 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to around 200 and the US has long been accused of taking its eye off polar defense, up to this point.

Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a bigger US footprint on the territory and additional measures but faced with the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

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

"This whole situation has just highlighted – yet again – the EU's core vulnerability {