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Earlier today, a self-styled Alliance of the Willing, predominantly composed of European heads of state, met in Paris with envoys of US President Donald Trump, attempting to achieve more headway on a sustainable peace deal for Ukraine.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a plan to end the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", not a single person in that room wished to endanger maintaining the US onboard.

Yet, there was an immense unspoken issue in that opulent and luxurious summit, and the fundamental tension was extremely strained.

Recall the events of the past week: the Trump administration's divisive incursion in the South American nation and the US president's insistence shortly thereafter, that "it is essential to have Greenland from the viewpoint of strategic interests".

This massive island is the world's biggest island – it's six times the size of Germany. It lies in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent territory of Copenhagen.

At the summit, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was sitting facing two key figures representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

She was facing pressure from European counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over the Greenland issue, lest that impacts US backing for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have much rather to separate Greenland and the negotiations on Ukraine apart. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Denmark, leaders of big states at the talks released a communiqué stating: "The island is part of NATO. Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved jointly, in partnership with NATO allies such as the US".

"The decision is for Copenhagen and the Greenlandic authorities, and no one else, to rule on issues related to Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The announcement was received positively by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but critics contend it was tardy to be formulated and, due to the limited set of signatories to the statement, it was unable to demonstrate a Europe aligned in objective.

"Were there a joint statement from all 27 European Union countries, plus NATO ally the UK, in backing of Copenhagen's control, that would have sent a powerful message to the US," commented a EU defense expert.

Reflect on the irony at play at the France meeting. Numerous European government and other officials, including the alliance and the EU, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the White House in guaranteeing the future autonomy of a EU nation (the Eastern European nation) against the aggressive land claims of an foreign power (Russia), on the heels of the US has swooped into independent Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also continuing to publicly challenging the autonomy of a further European nation (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the transatlantic alliance NATO. They are, according to Danish officials, extremely key friends. Previously, they were considered so.

The issue is, were Trump to make good on his ambition to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an existential threat to the alliance but also a profound crisis for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has voiced his intention to acquire the Arctic island. He's floated the idea of purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out forcible annexation.

On Sunday that the territory is "crucially located right now, Greenland is frequented by Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the perspective of national security and Denmark is unable to provide security".

Denmark strongly denies that claim. It has lately committed to invest $4bn in the island's defense encompassing boats, drones and aircraft.

Pursuant to a mutual pact, the US operates a military base presently on Greenland – set up at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the number of troops there from around 10,000 during peak the confrontation to around 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off the northern theater, until now.

Copenhagen has signaled it is willing to talk about a expanded US presence on the island and further cooperation but in light of the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that Washington's desire to acquire Greenland should be taken seriously.

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

"These developments has just highlighted – yet again – Europe's fundamental shortcoming {