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Just this morning, a so-called Coalition of the Willing, largely composed of EU officials, convened in the French capital with representatives of the Trump administration, hoping to achieve additional headway on a sustainable settlement for the embattled nation.

With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring that a plan to end the war with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that room wished to jeopardise retaining the US engaged.

Yet, there was an colossal glaring omission in that impressive and sparkling Paris meeting, and the underlying tension was exceptionally tense.

Recall the events of the last few days: the US administration's controversial intervention in Venezuela and the American leader's declaration shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the perspective of defense".

Greenland is the world's largest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It is located in the Arctic region but is an self-governing territory of Denmark's.

At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned across from two influential individuals acting for Trump: special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.

She was subject to urging from European allies not to alienating the US over the Greenland issue, for fear that that impacts US support for Ukraine.

EU heads of state would have greatly desired 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 leading European nations at the gathering released a statement stating: "This territory is part of NATO. Defense in the North must therefore be secured together, in partnership with alliance members such as the US".

"Sovereignty is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them only, to determine on issues related to Denmark and Greenland," the communiqué added.

The statement was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was tardy to be put together and, because of the limited group of endorsers to the statement, it failed to project a Europe united in objective.

"Were there a unified statement from all 27 EU partners, along with NATO ally the UK, in support of Danish authority, that would have conveyed a strong message to the US," stated a European defense specialist.

Reflect on the contradiction at work at the Paris summit. Several European government and other leaders, such as NATO and the European Union, are attempting to engage the US administration in protecting the future autonomy of a European country (Ukraine) against the hostile territorial ambitions of an outside force (Moscow), immediately after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela militarily, detaining its leader, while also persistently publicly undermining the sovereignty of a further EU member (Denmark).

To make matters even more stark – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Copenhagen, extremely strong partners. At least, they were.

The dilemma is, were Trump to make good on his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it constitute not just an fundamental challenge to NATO but also a profound problem for the EU?

Europe Faces the Danger of Being Overlooked

This is not an isolated incident President Trump has expressed his intention to acquire Greenland. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also not excluded taking it by force.

Recently that the territory is "vitally important right now, it is patrolled by foreign ships all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Denmark is incapable to provide security".

Denmark contests that last statement. It recently pledged to invest $4bn in Arctic security for boats, drones and aircraft.

As per a bilateral agreement, the US has a defense installation presently on the island – founded at the beginning of the Cold War. It has scaled down the number of personnel there from approximately 10,000 during peak the confrontation to approximately 200 and the US has long been accused of overlooking polar defense, recently.

Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a larger US presence on the island and additional measures but in light of the US President's warning of unilateral action, Frederiksen said on Monday that Trump's ambition to take Greenland should be taken seriously.

In the wake of the American intervention in Venezuela this weekend, her fellow leaders across Europe are heeding that warning.

"The current crisis has just underlined – for the umpteenth time – Europe's basic shortcoming {