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Just this morning, a informal Alliance of the Determined, predominantly consisting of EU heads of state, gathered in Paris with representatives of President Trump, aiming to secure more progress on a lasting peace agreement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a roadmap to conclude the hostilities with Russia is "largely complete", nobody in that room wanted to endanger retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an immense glaring omission in that opulent and luxurious summit, and the underlying atmosphere was extremely tense.

Recall the actions of the last few days: the US administration's divisive involvement in Venezuela and the American leader's declaration following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the standpoint of national security".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent territory of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting facing two key figures acting for Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU counterparts not to provoking the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that affects US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

Europe's leaders would have much rather to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on Ukraine apart. But with the tensions mounting from the White House and Denmark, representatives of major European nations at the gathering put out a declaration asserting: "This territory is part of the alliance. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be secured together, in conjunction with alliance members like the America".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them only, to decide on issues regarding the kingdom and Greenland," the statement continued.

The statement was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was delayed to be drafted and, due to the restricted number of signatories to the declaration, it was unable to demonstrate a European Union in agreement in objective.

"If there had been a joint position from all 27 EU partners, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in support of Danish sovereignty, that would have sent a powerful message to the US," stated a EU foreign policy analyst.

Consider the irony at hand at the France meeting. Numerous EU government and other officials, from the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to engage the White House in guaranteeing the future sovereignty of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist territorial ambitions of an foreign power (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also persistently openly undermining the sovereignty of a further European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both signatories of the defensive pact NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, exceptionally close allies. At least, they were.

The question is, if Trump were to act upon his desire to acquire Greenland, would it represent not just an fundamental challenge to the alliance but also a major challenge for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Overlooked

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has voiced his intention to acquire Greenland. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.

Recently that the landmass is "crucially located right now, it is covered with foreign ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the standpoint of defense and Copenhagen is incapable to provide security".

Copenhagen refutes that claim. It recently pledged to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a military base already on Greenland – established at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of personnel there from about 10,000 during the height of that era to around 200 and the US has often been faulted of overlooking the northern theater, up to this point.

Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a bigger US footprint on the island and additional measures but confronted by the US President's warning of unilateral action, the Danish PM said on Monday that Washington's desire to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

In the wake of the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her fellow leaders in Europe are doing just that.

"The current crisis has just underlined – once again – Europe's core weakness {