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Earlier today, a informal Coalition of the Willing, largely composed of European officials, convened in Paris with delegates of President Trump, hoping to achieve additional advances on a durable peace agreement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to halt the war with Russia is "90% of the way there", nobody in that gathering desired to risk keeping the US onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous glaring omission in that grand and luxurious summit, and the fundamental mood was extremely uneasy.

Recall the actions of the last few days: the US administration's divisive involvement in the South American nation and the President Trump's declaration shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the perspective of defense".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's greatest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an autonomous territory of Copenhagen.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned across from two influential individuals speaking on behalf of Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European allies to refrain from antagonising the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the debate on the war separate. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Denmark, leaders of major European nations at the talks put out a declaration saying: "The island is part of the alliance. Defense in the North must therefore be attained collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners including the America".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to determine on affairs concerning Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was slow to be put together and, due to the restricted group of signatories to the statement, it was unable to demonstrate a Europe aligned in purpose.

"If there had been a common position from all 27 European Union countries, along with alliance partner the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have delivered a resounding signal to the US," stated a European defense analyst.

Ponder the contradiction at work at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other leaders, from the alliance and the European Union, are trying to involve the Trump administration in protecting the future sovereignty of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the hostile geopolitical designs of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela by armed intervention, detaining its leader, while also continuing to publicly threatening the autonomy of another continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the military bloc NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, profoundly close allies. Or were.

The question is, if Trump were to make good on his goal to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a major problem for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not the first time President Trump has voiced his intention to control the Arctic island. He's suggested acquiring it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

Recently that the landmass is "vitally important right now, Greenland is patrolled by Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Copenhagen is not going to be able to do it".

Copenhagen contests that assertion. It has lately pledged to invest $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a bilateral agreement, the US operates a defense installation currently on Greenland – established at the start of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the number of troops there from around 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off polar defense, recently.

Copenhagen has indicated it is willing to talk about a bigger US footprint on the territory and more but confronted by the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges throughout Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just highlighted – for the umpteenth time – the EU's core vulnerability {