Trump’s threats to Greenland are being overshadowed by the Ukraine security conference

The catchphrase going into Tuesday’s coalition meeting on Ukraine in Paris seems to be: expect the unexpected.

That was clearly the vibe as leaders from 30 or so countries, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, gathered in the French capital.

While European leaders were trying to justify the implications of the US military action in Venezuela to efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, Carney was dealing with the political fallout of Chrystia Freeland’s acceptance of the role of adviser to the Ukrainian government while she was a member of Parliament.

A former cabinet minister will be him special, unpaid economic advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine for reconstruction but has since resigned from that post and will soon be stepping down as a member of Parliament.

But, until now, the planned capture and prosecution of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores under US law was the event that troubled European leaders on the eve of discussing some security guarantees for Ukraine.

In addition, the President of the United States Donald Trump he reiterated his desire to take Greenland from Denmark in an interview with The Atlantic. One of his top advisers, Stephen Miller, refused to rule out military use during an interview with CNN.

“I have to say this directly to the United States: It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a social media response.

“First of all, I believe that the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland. But I also want to make it clear that if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, everything stops. That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that European leaders know the United States needs Greenland.

Going into Tuesday’s meeting, Carney tried to focus on Ukraine and didn’t bite when asked if he was concerned about threats to US forces in Greenland.

“We stand with Denmark, we stand with Greenland,” Carney said. “Our closest relationship is with the United States. And we will work with everyone to make sure we move forward together.”

A number of other countries, however, have expressed unqualified support for Denmark to retain control of the Arctic region.

“Denmark is very close to the UK, both in Europe and in NATO. And it is very important that we are clear about the principles that apply here in Greenland,” said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer before the meeting. “The Danish government must decide the future of Greenland, not anyone else.”

Moderated response

Carney is expected to meet separately with both Frederiksen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the sidelines of the Ukraine meeting.

But it is unlikely that European Union leaders will want to address the Venezuela question directly in the next few days for fear of angering Trump and his envoys in Paris – and possibly jeopardizing US support for the alliance with Ukraine.

Carney welcomed the moderate response to Maduro’s arrest, noting that Canada has not seen Maduro’s “repressive and criminal regime” since the 2018 election that many in the international community say was stolen from the opposition.

Carney welcomed the “opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace and prosperity of the Venezuelan people,” who “have the right to self-determination and to build their own future in a peaceful and democratic society.”

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told several US political shows on Sunday that the transition to democracy was on hold for now and that Washington would work with Maduro’s subordinates. He said the truth is that most of the opposition in Venezuela has fled the country and it will take time to restore their presence.

Both Trump and Rubio invoked the Monroe Doctrine – or “Donroe Doctrine” as Trump has come to call it – which asserts that Washington has the right to exercise its authority within the Western Hemisphere.

Trump, in his remarks in Greenland, said that Russian and Chinese ships were circling the island’s territory.

Russia used the same logic to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

Whether Trump’s actions in Venezuela, which has among the world’s largest proven oil reserves, will embolden Moscow is an open question.

One US defense expert said he believed there was momentum for an end to the fighting in Ukraine despite last weekend’s events.

“Russia has reason to take a break from fighting right now and redeploy its forces,” said Matt Schmidt, an associate professor and national security expert at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and a former instructor at the US Army War College.

“It’s taken a huge loss of personnel and a huge loss of equipment that needs to be replaced. That’s why it ultimately needs to get to the table or win the war quickly.”

Coalition leaders hope to extract some security guarantees from Ukraine that would prevent Russia from simply using the ceasefire as a break.

Leaders will also focus on rebuilding.