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Just this morning, a informal Group of the Willing, predominantly consisting of EU leaders, convened in the French capital with representatives of President Trump, aiming to make further headway on a durable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that meeting desired to risk maintaining the Washington onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous elephant in the room in that impressive and luxurious gathering, and the fundamental mood was profoundly uneasy.

Bear in mind the developments of the recent days: the US administration's divisive intervention in the South American nation and the President Trump's insistence following this, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's six times the size of Germany. It lies in the Arctic but is an semi-independent possession of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting facing two powerful figures representing Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU allies not to provoking the US over the Greenland issue, in case that impacts US assistance for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to keep the Arctic dispute and the debate on the war separate. But with the tensions escalating from the White House and Copenhagen, representatives of big states at the gathering released a communiqué stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be attained collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners including the US".

"The decision is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on issues regarding the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the statement added.

The statement was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts contend it was delayed to be drafted and, due to the restricted group of signatories to the declaration, it failed to show a European Union united in intent.

"If there had been a common position from all 27 European Union countries, along with NATO ally the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have conveyed a powerful warning to the US," noted a European defense specialist.

Consider the paradox at play at the France meeting. Several EU government and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are attempting to secure the cooperation of the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile land claims of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has entered sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also still actively challenging the sovereignty of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the defensive pact NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely key friends. Or were.

The question is, should Trump fulfill his goal to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is far from the first instance President Trump has voiced his determination to dominate Greenland. He's proposed acquiring it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

On Sunday that the landmass is "crucially located right now, it is patrolled by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Copenhagen is unable to handle it".

Copenhagen contests that last statement. It recently committed to spend $4bn in the island's defense encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US operates a defense installation presently on the island – founded at the start of the Cold War. It has cut the figure of troops there from around 10,000 during the height of that era to approximately 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking the northern theater, up to this point.

Denmark has indicated it is willing to talk about a bigger US footprint on the territory and more but faced with the US President's assertion of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges across Europe are heeding that warning.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – for the umpteenth time – the EU's fundamental shortcoming {