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Just this morning, a informal Coalition of the Willing, predominantly made up of EU heads of state, met in Paris with delegates of US President Donald Trump, aiming to achieve additional progress on a lasting peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to halt the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", nobody in that meeting desired to endanger keeping the US involved.

Yet, there was an colossal glaring omission in that impressive and glittering Paris meeting, and the underlying mood was profoundly tense.

Consider the events of the last few days: the White House's contentious incursion in the South American nation and the US president's assertion shortly thereafter, that "our national security requires Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

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

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was seated facing two influential personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European allies to avoid antagonising the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that undermines US assistance for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have far preferred to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the debate on Ukraine separate. But with the political temperature mounting from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of big EU countries at the gathering put out a statement asserting: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in cooperation with treaty partners such as the United States".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to decide on affairs related to Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The announcement was received positively by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was tardy to be drafted and, owing to the restricted set of signatories to the declaration, it failed to project a European Union in agreement in intent.

"Had there been a common declaration from all 27 EU partners, along with NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish control, that would have conveyed a strong signal to Washington," stated a European defense expert.

Ponder the paradox at play at the European gathering. Multiple European national and other leaders, from the alliance and the EU, are seeking to engage the Trump administration in safeguarding the future autonomy of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also still actively undermining the territorial integrity of another continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Copenhagen and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely close allies. Previously, they were considered so.

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

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is not the first time President Trump has voiced his intention to control Greenland. He's floated the idea of acquiring it in the past. He's also not excluded taking it by force.

Recently that the island is "vitally important right now, Greenland is frequented by foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to do it".

Copenhagen strongly denies that claim. It has lately committed to allocate $4bn in Arctic security for boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement, the US has a military base already on the island – set up at the onset of the Cold War. It has reduced the number of personnel there from around 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking polar defense, recently.

Denmark has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US presence on the territory and additional measures but confronted by the US President's warning of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to control Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her fellow leaders in Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just underlined – for the umpteenth time – Europe's core vulnerability {