I agree there, but also there is the perspective that the consumer of the content did not ask your server to take their data for analytics purposes. So it goes both ways
I understand that, but even without analytics, it wouldn't conform simply because it's hosted in the US and the IP can be stored there.
The way routing works, you can't prevent the IP from going to the US if it's just hosted there.
AFAIK the IP from requests doesn't necessarily need to be logged or stored anywhere, does it? Perhaps this comes from my lack of understanding of GDPR but I thought the issue was from storage where it could be retrieved or shared
The problem is that the US CLOUD act compels US companies to provide data access to US agencies, regardless of where the data flows. It could even be servers on EU soil. EU courts hold that these kind of acts violate the data rights of individuals located in the EU.