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Just this morning, a so-called Alliance of the Committed, mostly made up of EU leaders, met in Paris with representatives of President Trump, hoping to achieve additional progress on a sustainable peace deal for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to conclude the war with Russia is "nearly finalized", not a single person in that gathering wished to risk keeping the US involved.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that impressive and sparkling summit, and the underlying atmosphere was exceptionally tense.

Recall the events of the last few days: the US administration's divisive involvement in the South American nation and the American leader's assertion shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the perspective of national security".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an autonomous territory of Denmark's.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned across from two influential figures representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU colleagues not to alienating the US over Greenland, in case that impacts US assistance for Ukraine.

The continent's officials would have far preferred to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the debate on the war apart. But with the political temperature rising from Washington and Copenhagen, representatives of major EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a statement asserting: "Greenland is part of NATO. Stability in the North must therefore be attained collectively, in partnership with NATO allies like the America".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them only, to rule on affairs concerning the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the communiqué further stated.

The announcement was greeted by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts contend it was slow to be put together and, due to the restricted number of supporters to the statement, it did not manage to show a European Union in agreement in purpose.

"Had there been a unified statement from all 27 EU partners, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in defense of Copenhagen's authority, that would have sent a strong warning to Washington," commented a European defense expert.

Reflect on the irony at work at the France meeting. Several European government and other officials, including NATO and the EU, are trying to involve the Trump administration in safeguarding the future independence of a European country (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive territorial ambitions of an external actor (Moscow), just after the US has entered independent Venezuela militarily, taking its president into custody, while also continuing to actively challenging the sovereignty of a further continental ally (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, as stated by Copenhagen, exceptionally strong partners. At least, they were.

The question is, should Trump make good on his goal to bring Greenland under US control, would it represent not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a significant problem for the European Union?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not the first time President Trump has spoken of his intention to control Greenland. He's proposed buying it in the past. He's also not excluded a military seizure.

Recently that the landmass is "so strategic right now, it is frequented by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is incapable to do it".

Denmark refutes that last statement. It not long ago vowed to spend $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a treaty, the US has a defense installation already on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has cut the number of staff there from around 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to about 200 and the US has often been faulted of taking its eye off polar defense, recently.

Denmark has indicated it is open to discussion about a expanded US role on the island and more but in light of the US President's warning of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to control Greenland should be treated with gravity.

After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts throughout Europe are heeding that warning.

"The current crisis has just highlighted – once again – the EU's basic vulnerability {