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Just this morning, a informal Alliance of the Willing, predominantly made up of European heads of state, gathered in the French capital with delegates of US President Donald Trump, attempting to make further headway on a durable peace agreement for the embattled nation.

With President Volodymyr Zelensky insisting that a plan to end the hostilities with Russia is "nearly finalized", no-one in that meeting desired to endanger maintaining the Americans onboard.

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

Recall the events of the last few days: the White House's contentious involvement in the South American nation and the President Trump's insistence following this, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests".

Greenland is the world's greatest island – it's 600% the dimensions of Germany. It is located in the far north but is an semi-independent region of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two powerful personalities speaking on behalf of Trump: diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was under pressure from her EU colleagues to refrain from antagonising the US over the Greenland issue, lest that impacts US support for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have much rather to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war separate. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from the White House and Denmark, leaders of big EU countries at the Paris meeting put out a statement saying: "This territory is part of NATO. Stability in the North must therefore be attained jointly, in cooperation with treaty partners including the US".

"Sovereignty is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to determine on matters related to the kingdom and Greenland," the statement added.

The statement was welcomed by Nuuk's head of government, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was delayed to be drafted and, because of the limited number of signatories to the statement, it did not manage to demonstrate a European Union aligned in intent.

"Were there a common position from all 27 European Union countries, along with alliance partner the UK, in defense of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a powerful signal to the US," commented a European foreign policy specialist.

Ponder the irony at hand at the France meeting. Multiple EU national and other officials, including the alliance and the European Union, are trying to secure the cooperation of the US administration in protecting the future sovereignty of a continental state (the Eastern European nation) against the expansionist geopolitical designs of an external actor (Moscow), immediately after the US has entered sovereign Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also still publicly challenging the territorial integrity of a further continental ally (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Copenhagen and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Danish officials, profoundly strong partners. At least, they were.

The issue is, were Trump to act upon his goal to acquire Greenland, would it constitute not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a profound challenge for the EU?

Europe Risks Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has expressed his intention to acquire the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of purchasing it in the past. He's also left open the possibility of taking it by force.

He insisted that the territory is "crucially located right now, it is frequented by foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the vantage point of strategic interests and Denmark is incapable to handle it".

Copenhagen strongly denies that claim. It has lately committed to allocate $4bn in Greenland defence including boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a defense installation already on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has cut the figure of troops there from about 10,000 during peak that era to around 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking the northern theater, recently.

Copenhagen has indicated it is amenable to dialogue about a expanded US role on the island and further cooperation but faced with the US President's threat of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to acquire Greenland should be taken seriously.

After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her colleges in Europe are doing just that.

"This whole situation has just underlined – yet again – the EU's fundamental weakness {