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Earlier today, a informal Alliance of the Willing, mostly made up of EU officials, met in Paris with delegates of the Trump administration, hoping to make further progress on a sustainable peace agreement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a framework to end the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", no-one in that meeting desired to endanger keeping the Washington involved.

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

Recall the events of the past week: the US administration's controversial involvement in the South American nation and the American leader's declaration following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's six times the dimensions of Germany. It lies in the far north but is an self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was positioned across from two influential figures representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's adviser Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from her EU colleagues to avoid alienating the US over Greenland, lest that undermines US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have much rather to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on the war apart. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Denmark, representatives of leading EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a statement asserting: "This territory is part of the alliance. Stability in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, in partnership with treaty partners like the United States".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to decide on affairs related to Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers say it was delayed to be formulated and, due to the limited number of supporters to the declaration, it was unable to project a European Union in agreement in objective.

"Had there been a common position from all 27 EU partners, along with NATO ally the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have sent a powerful message to the US," commented a EU defense analyst.

Reflect on the contradiction at work at the Paris summit. Several EU government and other leaders, such as the alliance and the European Union, are trying to secure the cooperation of the Trump administration in safeguarding the future independence of a European country (Ukraine) against the hostile land claims of an outside force (Russia), on the heels of the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also still publicly undermining the territorial integrity of another European nation (the Kingdom of Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, as stated by Danish officials, exceptionally key friends. Or were.

The dilemma is, if Trump were to make good on his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it constitute not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a profound problem for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has spoken of his resolve to acquire the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

Recently that the island is "so strategic right now, it is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of national security and Denmark is incapable to do it".

Copenhagen strongly denies that last statement. It has lately vowed to invest $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US maintains a defense installation already on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has cut the total of staff there from around 10,000 during the height of the confrontation to about 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of overlooking polar defense, recently.

Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a larger US presence on the island and additional measures but faced with the US President's warning of going it alone, the Danish PM said on Monday that Trump's ambition to acquire Greenland should be treated with gravity.

Following the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts throughout Europe are heeding that warning.

"These developments has just underlined – for the umpteenth time – the EU's core weakness {