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Just this morning, a informal Coalition of the Determined, predominantly composed of EU heads of state, met in Paris with delegates of President Trump, attempting to secure more headway on a lasting settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that meeting wanted to risk retaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an colossal glaring omission in that grand and sparkling summit, and the prevailing mood was profoundly tense.

Recall the events of the recent days: the US administration's contentious involvement in the South American nation and the US president's insistence following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of national security".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an self-governing possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was seated facing two key personalities representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU allies not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, lest that affects US support for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have far preferred to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on the war apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from the White House and Copenhagen, representatives of leading EU countries at the Paris meeting released a declaration stating: "Greenland is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in partnership with treaty partners including the United States".

"It is for Denmark and Greenland, and no one else, to rule on affairs related to Denmark and Greenland," the declaration added.

The statement was received positively by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers say it was slow to be put together and, owing to the small group of supporters to the statement, it failed to project a Europe united in objective.

"If there had been a common declaration from all 27 EU partners, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a resounding message to the US," stated a European defense specialist.

Consider the paradox at work at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other officials, including the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the US administration in guaranteeing the future independence of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile land claims of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has swooped into independent Venezuela by armed intervention, taking its president into custody, while also continuing to actively challenging the sovereignty of another continental ally (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, according to Copenhagen, exceptionally strong partners. At least, they were.

The issue is, were Trump to make good on his goal to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an existential threat to NATO but also a profound challenge for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is not an isolated incident Trump has voiced his determination to control the Arctic island. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of a military seizure.

He insisted that the island is "vitally important right now, it is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the perspective of national security and Copenhagen is unable to handle it".

Copenhagen refutes that claim. It recently vowed to spend $4bn in Greenland defence for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a treaty, the US has a military base presently on the island – established at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the number of staff there from approximately 10,000 during the height of the confrontation to around 200 and the US has long been accused of neglecting polar defense, until now.

Denmark has signaled it is open to discussion about a larger US role on the island and further cooperation but confronted by the US President's threat of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges throughout Europe are taking it seriously.

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