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Just this morning, a so-called Group of the Determined, predominantly consisting of European leaders, convened in Paris with delegates of President Trump, hoping to achieve additional advances on a lasting settlement for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a framework to halt the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", nobody in that gathering desired to jeopardise retaining the Americans engaged.

Yet, there was an immense elephant in the room in that impressive and sparkling summit, and the prevailing tension was exceptionally strained.

Consider the actions of the recent days: the Trump administration's controversial intervention in the South American nation and the US president's assertion soon after, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the standpoint of defense".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's sixfold the area of Germany. It is located in the Arctic but is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Copenhagen's leader, was sitting opposite two influential figures speaking on behalf of Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from her EU colleagues to avoid provoking the US over Greenland, for fear that that affects US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.

The continent's officials would have far preferred to keep the Arctic dispute and the discussions on the war apart. But with the tensions mounting from Washington and Copenhagen, leaders of leading European nations at the Paris meeting issued a communiqué asserting: "Greenland is part of NATO. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together, in partnership with alliance members such as the America".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on affairs related to Denmark and its autonomous territory," the declaration further stated.

The statement was received positively by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was slow to be drafted and, owing to the small group of supporters to the statement, it failed to project a Europe in agreement in objective.

"Had there been a joint statement from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to alliance partner the UK, in backing of Danish control, that would have conveyed a resounding signal to America," noted a EU foreign policy specialist.

Consider the irony at work at the European gathering. Several EU national and other leaders, including the alliance and the EU, are trying to engage the Trump administration in safeguarding the future sovereignty of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the hostile geopolitical designs of an outside force (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela with force, taking its president into custody, while also continuing to actively threatening the autonomy of another continental ally (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Copenhagen and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Danish officials, profoundly close allies. Or were.

The issue is, if Trump were to fulfill his ambition to acquire Greenland, would it mark not just an existential threat to NATO but also a major challenge for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Trampled Underfoot

This is not the first time President Trump has expressed his determination to acquire Greenland. He's proposed acquiring it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of a military seizure.

He insisted that the island is "vitally important right now, Greenland is covered with foreign naval assets all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of national security and Copenhagen is unable to provide security".

Copenhagen refutes that last statement. It not long ago vowed to allocate $4bn in the island's defense including boats, drones and aircraft.

Under a bilateral agreement, the US operates a defense installation presently on the island – established at the start of the Cold War. It has scaled down the figure of personnel there from around 10,000 during peak that era to about 200 and the US has long been accused of taking its eye off polar defense, recently.

Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a larger US presence on the territory and more but in light of the US President's assertion of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to acquire Greenland should be considered a real possibility.

In the wake of the US administration's actions in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges across Europe are heeding that warning.

"The current crisis has just highlighted – yet again – the EU's core weakness {