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Just this morning, a self-styled Alliance of the Determined, predominantly made up of European officials, convened in the French capital with delegates of President Trump, aiming to achieve more advances on a lasting peace agreement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to conclude the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that meeting desired to endanger retaining the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an colossal elephant in the room in that grand and sparkling Paris meeting, and the prevailing mood was exceptionally strained.

Bear in mind the events of the recent days: the Trump administration's divisive incursion in Venezuela and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's sixfold the area of Germany. It lies in the Arctic but is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting opposite two powerful personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European colleagues to avoid antagonising the US over Greenland, in case that affects US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have far preferred to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the debate on Ukraine apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of big European nations at the Paris meeting put out a declaration saying: "Greenland is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be secured jointly, in partnership with treaty partners like the America".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them alone, to decide on affairs regarding Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué further stated.

The communique was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers argue it was slow to be formulated and, owing to the limited set of supporters to the statement, it did not manage to demonstrate a Europe in agreement in purpose.

"Had there been a unified position from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in support of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have conveyed a strong message to America," stated a EU defense analyst.

Ponder the paradox at work at the Paris summit. Several European national and other officials, from NATO and the EU, are attempting to involve the Trump administration in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a European country (Ukraine) against the aggressive land claims of an external actor (Russia), immediately after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela with force, arresting its head of state, while also still publicly challenging the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, profoundly strong partners. At least, they were.

The dilemma is, should Trump fulfill his goal to bring Greenland under US control, would it mark not just an severe risk to NATO but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his intention to control the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.

He insisted that the landmass is "crucially located right now, it is patrolled by foreign ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the perspective of national security and Copenhagen is unable to provide security".

Copenhagen strongly denies that last statement. It recently vowed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a mutual pact, the US has a defense installation currently on Greenland – founded at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of staff there from around 10,000 during peak the confrontation to approximately 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off Arctic Security, until now.

Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US presence on the territory and more but faced with the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

In the wake of the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts across Europe are taking it seriously.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – once again – Europe's basic weakness {