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Just this morning, a self-styled Coalition of the Willing, mostly composed of EU heads of state, gathered in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, aiming to achieve further headway on a sustainable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a framework to halt the conflict with Russia is "largely complete", nobody in that room wished to endanger retaining the Washington involved.

Yet, there was an immense glaring omission in that grand and luxurious gathering, and the prevailing tension was exceptionally uneasy.

Consider the events of the last few days: the Trump administration's contentious involvement in Venezuela and the US president's assertion shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the area of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an self-governing territory of Copenhagen.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was seated across from two powerful individuals representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over Greenland, lest that affects US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to separate Greenland and the debate on Ukraine distinct. But with the political temperature rising from the White House and Denmark, leaders of big European nations at the talks put out a declaration saying: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, in partnership with treaty partners including the United States".

"It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to rule on affairs related to the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration further stated.

The announcement was received positively by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was tardy to be formulated and, due to the limited set of supporters to the declaration, it was unable to show a Europe united in purpose.

"If there had been a unified statement from all 27 European Union countries, plus NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's authority, that would have delivered a resounding message to the US," noted a EU foreign policy analyst.

Reflect on the paradox at hand at the France meeting. Numerous EU government and other leaders, including the alliance and the European Union, are attempting to engage the White House in protecting the future independence of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), just after the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, detaining its leader, while also continuing to publicly threatening the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Danish officials, exceptionally strong partners. Or were.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his desire to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a major crisis for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his determination to acquire Greenland. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

Recently that the landmass is "so strategic right now, Greenland is frequented by foreign ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of strategic interests and Copenhagen is incapable to do it".

Copenhagen refutes that claim. It not long ago committed to invest $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a mutual pact, the US maintains a strategic outpost already on Greenland – established at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the total of staff there from about 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of neglecting Arctic Security, up to this point.

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 Washington's desire to control Greenland should be taken seriously.

In the wake of the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges across Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just underlined – yet again – the EU's basic weakness {