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Earlier today, a informal Alliance of the Willing, mostly made up of EU leaders, convened in the French capital with envoys of US President Donald Trump, hoping to achieve further advances on a durable settlement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to conclude the war with Russia is "largely complete", not a single person in that room wished to jeopardise maintaining the Americans engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal unspoken issue in that impressive and glittering summit, and the underlying tension was exceptionally uneasy.

Bear in mind the events of the last few days: the Trump administration's divisive intervention in the South American nation and the President Trump's assertion following this, that "we need Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an autonomous region of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned across from two key figures acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European allies not to alienating the US over the Arctic question, lest that impacts US backing for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have far preferred to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on the war apart. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from the White House and Denmark, representatives of major states at the gathering issued a statement saying: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Stability in the North must therefore be achieved collectively, in cooperation with alliance members including the America".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to decide on affairs concerning 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 formulated and, owing to the restricted number of endorsers to the statement, it did not manage to demonstrate a Europe in agreement in objective.

"Had there been a common position from all 27 EU partners, plus alliance partner the UK, in defense of Danish authority, that would have delivered a powerful message to the US," noted a EU foreign policy analyst.

Reflect on the paradox at hand at the Paris summit. Several EU national and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are trying to secure the cooperation of the White House in safeguarding the future autonomy of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), on the heels of the US has intervened in sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also still openly undermining the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Copenhagen, profoundly strong partners. At least, they were.

The question is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to assert control over the island, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a significant crisis for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is far from the first instance Trump has voiced his intention to dominate Greenland. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also not excluded forcible annexation.

He insisted that the island is "so strategic right now, it is patrolled by Russian and Chinese naval assets all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is not going to be able to provide security".

Denmark strongly denies that assertion. It has lately vowed to invest $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US maintains a defense installation currently on Greenland – established at the onset of the Cold War. It has reduced the figure of personnel there from approximately 10,000 during peak Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off Arctic Security, until now.

Denmark has indicated it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US footprint on the island and more but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts throughout Europe are taking it seriously.

"These developments has just emphasized – once again – Europe's core vulnerability {