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This very day, a self-styled Alliance of the Committed, largely consisting of European leaders, met in the French capital with representatives of the Trump administration, attempting to achieve more progress on a durable peace deal for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a roadmap to halt the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", not a single person in that meeting wished to jeopardise retaining the US onboard.

Yet, there was an colossal glaring omission in that grand and sparkling gathering, and the fundamental atmosphere was extremely tense.

Consider the developments of the recent days: the US administration's divisive incursion in Venezuela and the President Trump's assertion shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of national security".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's sixfold the dimensions of Germany. It lies in the Arctic but is an self-governing possession of Copenhagen.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two influential figures speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European allies to avoid provoking the US over the Arctic question, in case that undermines US support for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to compartmentalize Greenland and the debate on the war apart. But with the political temperature rising from the White House and Copenhagen, leaders of big EU countries at the Paris meeting released a declaration stating: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be secured jointly, in cooperation with NATO allies like the America".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them only, to rule on issues concerning the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration continued.

The announcement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers say it was tardy to be put together and, because of the small group of signatories to the declaration, it was unable to demonstrate a European Union aligned in objective.

"Had there been a common statement from all 27 member states, along with NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's control, that would have conveyed a resounding message to America," commented a European defense specialist.

Ponder the paradox at play at the Paris summit. Multiple EU government and other officials, such as the alliance and the EU, are attempting to secure the cooperation of the White House in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to actively undermining the autonomy of a different EU member (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the defensive pact NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, profoundly key friends. At least, they were.

The question is, should Trump fulfill his goal to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a profound crisis for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance President Trump has expressed his resolve to control Greenland. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of a military seizure.

He insisted that the territory is "vitally important right now, Greenland is covered with foreign naval assets all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the standpoint of defense and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Copenhagen refutes that assertion. It has lately vowed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense for boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a treaty, the US has a defense installation already on Greenland – set up at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the total of troops there from about 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to approximately 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of overlooking Arctic Security, until now.

Denmark has indicated it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US role on the island and additional measures but faced with the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to control Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts throughout Europe are doing just that.

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