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Earlier today, a so-called Alliance of the Willing, mostly composed of European heads of state, gathered in the French capital with envoys of US President Donald Trump, attempting to achieve further advances on a lasting peace deal for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a roadmap to end the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that gathering wished to endanger keeping the Americans involved.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that grand and luxurious summit, and the underlying mood was exceptionally strained.

Recall the actions of the past week: the Trump administration's contentious intervention in Venezuela and the American leader's declaration shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's largest island – it's sixfold the size of Germany. It lies in the far north but is an self-governing possession of Copenhagen.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was seated facing two influential personalities representing Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from European allies to refrain from antagonising the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that impacts US backing for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired to separate the Arctic dispute and the debate on Ukraine separate. But with the tensions escalating from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of big EU countries at the gathering issued a declaration stating: "Greenland is part of NATO. Defense in the North must therefore be secured jointly, in cooperation with NATO allies including the America".

"It is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to rule on matters related to the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration continued.

The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was delayed to be formulated and, due to the small group of supporters to the declaration, it did not manage to project a European Union aligned in intent.

"Were there a common position from all 27 European Union countries, plus NATO ally the UK, in support of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have delivered a resounding warning to America," stated a European defense expert.

Ponder the contradiction at play at the European gathering. Multiple European government and other officials, such as NATO and the EU, are trying to engage the US administration in guaranteeing the future independence of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to openly undermining the territorial integrity of another EU member (Denmark).

To compound the situation – Denmark and the US are both participants of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, in the view of Danish officials, extremely close allies. At least, they were.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance President Trump has spoken of his determination to control Greenland. He's floated the idea of purchasing 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 naval assets all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Denmark refutes that assertion. It has lately vowed to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence for boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a treaty, the US maintains a defense installation already on Greenland – established at the onset of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of staff there from about 10,000 during the height of that era to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking the northern theater, until now.

Denmark has signaled it is willing to talk about a expanded US role on the territory and further cooperation but faced with the US President's threat of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

Following the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her colleges in Europe are taking it seriously.

"The current crisis has just underlined – yet again – the EU's basic vulnerability {