Just this morning, a self-styled Group of the Determined, mostly composed of European leaders, gathered in the French capital with envoys of the Trump administration, aiming to secure further progress 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 "nearly finalized", no-one in that gathering wished to endanger maintaining the Washington engaged.
Yet, there was an enormous unspoken issue in that impressive and sparkling summit, and the prevailing mood was extremely tense.
Recall the developments of the past week: the Trump administration's divisive intervention in the South American nation and the President Trump's assertion shortly thereafter, that "we need Greenland from the perspective of national security".
This massive island is the world's largest island – it's 600% the area of Germany. It is situated in the Arctic region but is an semi-independent possession of the Kingdom of Denmark.
At the conference, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, was positioned facing two influential individuals speaking on behalf of Trump: emissary Steve Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner.
She was subject to urging from her EU counterparts to avoid antagonising the US over the Arctic question, lest that undermines US support for the Ukrainian cause.
The continent's officials would have greatly desired to compartmentalize the Arctic dispute and the negotiations on the war separate. But with the tensions rising from Washington and Copenhagen, leaders of big states at the talks issued a statement stating: "Greenland is part of NATO. Security in the North must therefore be attained together, in cooperation with NATO allies such as the United States".
"The decision is for Denmark and the Greenlandic authorities, and them alone, to decide on issues concerning the kingdom and Greenland," the declaration continued.
The communique was greeted by Greenland's prime minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, but observers contend it was delayed to be formulated and, because of the limited set of supporters to the statement, it failed to show a European Union aligned in purpose.
"If there had been a joint statement from all 27 European Union countries, in addition to NATO ally the UK, in defense of Danish control, that would have conveyed a powerful signal to Washington," noted a EU defense specialist.
Consider the paradox at work at the France meeting. Numerous European national and other officials, including the alliance and the European Union, are seeking to secure the cooperation of the Trump administration in safeguarding the future independence of a EU nation (Ukraine) against the aggressive geopolitical designs of an outside force (Russia), immediately after the US has swooped into sovereign Venezuela by armed intervention, taking its president into custody, while also persistently publicly challenging the autonomy of a different EU member (the Kingdom of Denmark).
To compound the situation – Copenhagen and the US are both members of the military bloc the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are, according to Danish officials, extremely close allies. Or were.
The issue is, if Trump were to make good on his desire to assert control over the island, would it mark not just an severe risk to the alliance but also a major challenge for the European Union?
This is far from the first instance President Trump has expressed his resolve to acquire Greenland. He's floated the idea of acquiring it in the past. He's also refused to rule out a military seizure.
On Sunday that the territory is "so strategic right now, Greenland is patrolled by foreign vessels all over the place. Our security demands Greenland from the standpoint of national security and Copenhagen is unable to do it".
Denmark refutes that assertion. It not long ago vowed to allocate $4bn in Arctic security for boats, drones and aircraft.
As per a bilateral agreement, the US maintains a defense installation presently on Greenland – set up at the beginning of the East-West standoff. It has scaled down the total of personnel there from about 10,000 during the height of Cold War operations to approximately 200 and the US has frequently been criticized of taking its eye off Arctic Security, until now.
Copenhagen has signaled it is amenable to dialogue about a expanded US footprint on the island and additional measures but faced with the US President's warning of independent moves, the Danish PM said on Monday that the US leader's goal to control Greenland should be considered a real possibility.
After the Washington's moves in Venezuela this past few days, her counterparts across Europe are taking it seriously.
"The current crisis has just emphasized – once again – the EU's fundamental vulnerability {
