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This very day, a self-styled Alliance of the Determined, largely made up of EU heads of state, met in Paris with representatives of President Trump, aiming to secure additional advances on a durable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to halt the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", no-one in that meeting wanted to jeopardise maintaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal glaring omission in that impressive and sparkling summit, and the underlying tension was extremely uneasy.

Bear in mind the developments of the past week: the Trump administration's controversial intervention in the South American nation and the American leader's insistence following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an self-governing possession of Copenhagen.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting opposite two key individuals representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from European colleagues to refrain from antagonising the US over Greenland, lest that affects US backing for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have much rather to keep Greenland and the discussions on Ukraine apart. But with the political temperature mounting from Washington and Copenhagen, leaders of leading states at the gathering put out a statement stating: "The island is part of NATO. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be secured jointly, in conjunction with treaty partners including the US".

"It is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to rule on issues related to Denmark and its autonomous territory," the statement added.

The announcement was greeted by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts say it was slow to be drafted and, due to the restricted set of supporters to the declaration, it failed to demonstrate a Europe united in intent.

"Had there been a unified statement from all 27 EU partners, along with alliance partner the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have sent a resounding warning to America," noted a European defense expert.

Ponder the irony at hand at the Paris summit. Numerous EU government and other leaders, including the alliance and the European Union, are trying to involve the US administration in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a continental state (Ukraine) against the aggressive land claims of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has intervened in independent Venezuela with force, detaining its leader, while also persistently publicly threatening the territorial integrity of another continental ally (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Copenhagen, profoundly key friends. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, should Trump act upon his desire to bring Greenland under US control, would it represent not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a major problem for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his determination to control Greenland. He's suggested buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

He insisted that the landmass is "so strategic right now, it is covered with Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. We need Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Copenhagen is unable to provide security".

Denmark strongly denies that claim. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a treaty, the US maintains a defense installation currently on the island – established at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the total of personnel there from about 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking Arctic Security, until now.

Denmark has suggested it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US presence on the territory and further cooperation but in light of the US President's threat of going it alone, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

Following the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts in Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – once again – the EU's basic weakness {