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This very day, a informal Alliance of the Committed, mostly composed of European leaders, convened in the French capital with delegates of President Trump, attempting to make additional progress on a lasting settlement for Ukraine.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to conclude the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", not a single person in that meeting wished to jeopardise maintaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an enormous glaring omission in that grand and glittering summit, and the prevailing tension was extremely uneasy.

Bear in mind the events of the past week: the US administration's controversial involvement in the South American nation and the American leader's assertion following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests".

The vast Arctic territory is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the area of Germany. It is located in the far north but is an self-governing possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting opposite two influential personalities representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from her EU counterparts not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, in case that undermines US support for Ukraine.

Europe's leaders would have greatly desired to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on Ukraine distinct. But with the political temperature rising from Washington and Copenhagen, leaders of leading states at the gathering released a statement saying: "Greenland is part of the alliance. Security in the Arctic must therefore be secured collectively, in cooperation with treaty partners such as the United States".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to decide on matters concerning the kingdom and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers argue it was slow to be formulated and, because of the small group of signatories to the declaration, it was unable to show a European Union aligned in objective.

"Were there a unified statement from all 27 EU partners, along with alliance partner the UK, in defense of Danish control, that would have sent a strong signal to Washington," noted a European defense analyst.

Ponder the irony at work at the European gathering. Numerous European national and other leaders, including NATO and the European Union, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the US administration in guaranteeing the future independence of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an foreign power (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into independent Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also still publicly challenging 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, as stated by Copenhagen, extremely strong partners. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, if Trump were to act upon his goal to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a major crisis for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance President Trump has expressed his resolve to acquire the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of taking it by force.

On Sunday that the territory is "vitally important right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of defense and Denmark is not going to be able to do it".

Copenhagen refutes that last statement. It has lately committed to spend $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a treaty, the US operates a strategic outpost already on Greenland – set up at the start of the East-West standoff. It has cut the total of staff there from around 10,000 during peak the confrontation to approximately 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of overlooking Arctic Security, recently.

Copenhagen has suggested it is open to discussion about a expanded US footprint on the island and further cooperation but faced with the US President's threat of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

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

"The current crisis has just emphasized – once again – Europe's fundamental weakness {