Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Willing, largely made up of EU heads of state, met in Paris with delegates of US President Donald Trump, aiming to achieve additional headway on a sustainable peace agreement for the embattled nation.
With Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that a roadmap to halt the hostilities with Russia is "90% of the way there", no-one in that meeting wished to risk retaining the Washington onboard.
Yet, there was an enormous glaring omission in that opulent and sparkling summit, and the underlying mood was extremely uneasy.
Recall the events of the last few days: the Trump administration's contentious intervention in the South American nation and the President Trump's assertion shortly thereafter, that "our national security requires Greenland from the standpoint 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 autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark.
At the Paris meeting, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned opposite two influential figures representing Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.
She was subject to urging from her EU allies to refrain from antagonising the US over the Arctic question, for fear that that impacts US assistance for the Ukrainian cause.
Europe's leaders would have much rather to compartmentalize Greenland and the negotiations on the war separate. But with the diplomatic heat escalating from Washington and Denmark, representatives of major European nations at the gathering released a statement stating: "The island is part of NATO. Defense in the Arctic must therefore be achieved together, in cooperation with NATO allies including the US".
"The decision is for Copenhagen and Greenland, and them alone, to decide on affairs related to the kingdom and its autonomous territory," the declaration further stated.
The statement was welcomed by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but analysts argue it was slow to be formulated and, because of the limited set of signatories to the declaration, it failed to show a European Union in agreement in objective.
"If there had been a common position from all 27 member states, plus NATO ally the UK, in support of Copenhagen's control, that would have sent a resounding signal to the US," commented a EU foreign policy analyst.
Reflect on the contradiction at work at the European gathering. Multiple EU national and other officials, from NATO and the EU, are seeking to involve the White House in protecting the future sovereignty of a continental state (Ukraine) against the aggressive territorial ambitions of an external actor (Russia), just after the US has intervened in independent Venezuela militarily, arresting its head of state, while also still openly threatening the territorial integrity of a different continental ally (the Kingdom of Denmark).
To add to the complexity – Denmark and the US are both signatories of the transatlantic alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Danish officials, exceptionally key friends. Or were.
The question is, if Trump were to make good on his ambition to bring Greenland under US control, would it represent not just an existential threat to NATO but also a profound crisis for the European Union?
This is not the first time President Trump has voiced his resolve to dominate the Arctic island. He's suggested purchasing it in the past. He's also refused to rule out taking it by force.
Recently that the island is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of strategic interests and Denmark is unable to provide security".
Copenhagen contests that assertion. It has lately committed to invest $4bn in Arctic security including boats, drones and aircraft.
Pursuant to a treaty, the US maintains a strategic outpost currently on the island – founded at the onset of the East-West standoff. It has reduced the total of troops there from around 10,000 during the height of the confrontation to about 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off Arctic Security, up to this point.
Copenhagen has signaled it is open to discussion about a expanded US role on the island and more but confronted by the US President's threat of independent moves, Frederiksen said on Monday that the US leader's goal to take Greenland should be taken seriously.
After the US administration's actions in Venezuela this weekend, her counterparts across Europe are heeding that warning.
"These developments has just emphasized – for the umpteenth time – Europe's basic vulnerability {
