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Just this morning, a self-styled Alliance of the Willing, mostly composed of EU leaders, convened in the French capital with delegates of President Trump, attempting to achieve further headway on a sustainable settlement for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to conclude the conflict with Russia is "90% of the way there", not a single person in that meeting desired to endanger keeping the Americans onboard.

Yet, there was an enormous elephant in the room in that grand and luxurious summit, and the fundamental mood was extremely uneasy.

Bear in mind the actions of the last few days: the US administration's contentious incursion in the South American nation and the President Trump's declaration shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the standpoint of national security".

Greenland is the world's biggest island – it's 600% the size of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.

At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Prime Minister, was seated opposite two key personalities representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts not to antagonising the US over Greenland, for fear that that affects US support for the Ukrainian cause.

EU heads of state would have much rather to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on Ukraine apart. But with the political temperature escalating from the White House and Copenhagen, representatives of leading European nations at the talks put out a statement stating: "The island is part of the alliance. Defense in the North must therefore be attained together, in partnership with alliance members such as the US".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," the declaration further stated.

The communique was welcomed by the island's leader, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics contend it was delayed to be drafted and, because of the limited group of endorsers to the declaration, it failed to show a European Union aligned in intent.

"If there had been a unified declaration from all 27 member states, along with NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's sovereignty, that would have sent a resounding warning to Washington," noted a European foreign policy specialist.

Reflect on the irony at play at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other leaders, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to engage the White House in safeguarding the future sovereignty of a continental state (Ukraine) against the aggressive land claims of an outside force (Moscow), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, arresting its head of state, while also still publicly challenging the sovereignty of a different European nation (Denmark).

To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both participants of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, in the view of Copenhagen, extremely strong partners. At least, they were.

The question is, were Trump to make good on his goal to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a significant crisis for the European Union?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Marginalized

This is far from the first instance Trump has voiced his determination to control the Arctic island. He's suggested acquiring it in the past. He's also not excluded forcible annexation.

He insisted that the island is "crucially located right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese vessels all over the place. It is imperative to have Greenland from the perspective of strategic interests and Copenhagen is incapable to handle it".

Copenhagen contests that last statement. It not long ago committed to invest $4bn in Arctic security for boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a defense installation presently on the island – set up at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the figure of staff there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off polar defense, until now.

Copenhagen has suggested it is willing to talk about a bigger US presence on the island and additional measures but confronted by the US President's warning of going it alone, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

Following the American intervention in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts in Europe are taking it seriously.

"This whole situation has just highlighted – once again – the EU's fundamental vulnerability {