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This very day, a informal Group of the Committed, predominantly consisting of European heads of state, met in the French capital with delegates of President Trump, hoping to make further headway on a durable peace deal for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a roadmap to end the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that room desired to risk keeping the Washington engaged.

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

Consider the events of the recent days: the US administration's contentious incursion in the South American nation and the American leader's declaration following this, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's greatest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an self-governing region of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was positioned facing two key personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts not to alienating the US over Greenland, lest that impacts US support for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have far preferred to compartmentalize Greenland and the discussions on the war apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of leading EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a statement stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Security in the Arctic must therefore be attained together, in partnership with treaty partners such as the US".

"It is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them only, to rule on issues regarding Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was greeted by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was delayed to be formulated and, owing to the limited group of supporters to the statement, it did not manage to show a Europe united in purpose.

"Were there a joint statement from all 27 EU partners, plus NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's authority, that would have delivered a powerful message to America," commented a European foreign policy expert.

Ponder the contradiction at hand at the Paris summit. Multiple European national and other officials, from NATO and the European Union, are attempting to involve the White House in protecting the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also persistently publicly challenging the autonomy of a different EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both members of the military bloc NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, exceptionally close allies. At least, they were.

The issue is, were Trump to make good on 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 Faces the Danger of Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not the first time Trump has voiced his determination to control the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of buying it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of forcible annexation.

He insisted that the landmass is "vitally important right now, it is frequented by Russian and Chinese naval assets all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Denmark strongly denies that last statement. It recently committed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US has a strategic outpost already on Greenland – established at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the total of troops there from about 10,000 during peak the confrontation to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of neglecting polar defense, until now.

Denmark has indicated it is open to discussion about a larger US presence on the island and additional measures but confronted by the US President's threat of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to take Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

Following the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts in Europe are taking it seriously.

"The current crisis has just highlighted – yet again – Europe's basic shortcoming {