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Just this morning, a so-called Coalition of the Committed, largely composed of European officials, met in the French capital with representatives of President Trump, hoping to secure further progress on a lasting settlement for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to conclude the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that meeting desired to endanger retaining the Washington involved.

Yet, there was an enormous elephant in the room in that impressive and luxurious summit, and the underlying mood was extremely tense.

Bear in mind the events of the past week: the Trump administration's divisive involvement in Venezuela and the American leader's insistence soon after, that "our national security requires Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

This massive island is the world's largest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two powerful individuals representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts to avoid provoking the US over the Greenland issue, in case that impacts US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have much rather to separate the Arctic dispute and the debate on Ukraine separate. But with the tensions rising from the White House and Denmark, leaders of big EU countries at the gathering released a communiqué saying: "The island is part of the alliance. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, 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 regarding Denmark and Greenland," the declaration further stated.

The announcement was welcomed by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers say it was slow to be formulated and, because of the limited group of signatories to the statement, it was unable to show a European Union aligned in objective.

"Had there been a common declaration from all 27 European Union countries, plus alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have delivered a resounding signal to America," stated a EU foreign policy specialist.

Reflect on the irony at hand at the Paris summit. Multiple EU government and other leaders, including NATO and the European Union, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a continental state (Ukraine) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an foreign power (Russia), just after the US has entered independent Venezuela with force, taking its president into custody, while also still actively challenging the sovereignty of a different EU member (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both participants of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Danish officials, extremely key friends. At least, they were.

The dilemma is, were Trump to act upon his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an severe risk to NATO but also a profound challenge for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

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

He insisted that the landmass is "vitally important right now, it is patrolled by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of national security and Copenhagen is unable to provide security".

Denmark contests that claim. It not long ago committed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a mutual pact, the US maintains a defense installation presently on the island – founded at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the figure of staff there from approximately 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking Arctic Security, up to this point.

Denmark has suggested it is willing to talk about a expanded US presence on the island and more but faced with the US President's warning of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

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

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