European nations conflict over sending troops to Ukraine

European nations clashed over sending troops to Ukraine at a disaster assembly supposed to achieve a consensus on how to reply to US President Donald Trump’s peace talks with Russia.

As leaders convened in Paris for the assembly on Monday afternoon, Germany, Poland and Spain expressed a reluctance to dispatch peacekeeping forces to the war-torn nation, hours after Britain provided to put “boots on the bottom”.

The assembly, which France hoped would additionally yield plans to assist European nations increase defence spending, was hosted by President Emmanuel Macron and attended by six EU nations, the UK and officers from Nato and the EU.

Macron and Trump spoke forward of the Paris summit.

In line with officers briefed on preparations for the assembly, France has proposed discussing a “reassurance pressure” that may be stationed behind, not on, a future ceasefire line in Ukraine.

However in blunt remarks following the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz known as a dialogue about troop deployments “extremely inappropriate” given the warfare was nonetheless being waged.

“The dialogue is totally untimely, and it’s the incorrect time to have it,” mentioned Scholz, who faces nationwide elections on Sunday and has lengthy been cautious concerning the query of sending troopers to Ukraine.

He mentioned he was “just a little irritated” by the dialogue, calling it “an incomprehensible debate on the incorrect time and concerning the incorrect subject”.

However UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mentioned he was “ready to contemplate committing British forces on the bottom alongside others if there’s a lasting peace settlement”.

Requested what a European peacekeeping pressure would possibly look, Starmer mentioned talks on a ceasefire have been nonetheless at “a really early stage”.

Nonetheless, he added: “There have to be a US backstop. A US safety assure is the one efficient approach to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine once more.”

Washington’s European allies are racing to reply to Trump’s shock announcement of peace talks with Russia, that are set to start in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Some European capitals concern Trump will quickly wash his fingers of Ukraine and require the continent to make sure the nation’s safety after any ceasefire, implying a dedication of monetary and navy sources far past present ranges.

The Kremlin has hailed the discussions in Riyadh, which won’t embrace Ukraine, as a step to restoring full bilateral relations with the US and ending the warfare.

However Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned on Monday that Kyiv wouldn’t recognise the end result of any negotiations from which it was excluded.

Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, later mentioned “no one” would impose selections on Zelenskyy because the “elected chief of a sovereign nation”.

One British official brushed apart the reluctance of some European nations to supply troops to take care of a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying: “We don’t want everybody to say ‘Sure’, simply sufficient.”

Talking earlier than the assembly in Paris, José Manuel Albares, Spain’s international minister, mentioned: “No person is at the moment contemplating sending troops to Ukraine. Peace continues to be very far-off and for one motive solely: Vladimir Putin.”

He added that any dialogue of troop deployments or peacekeepers would “have to contemplate for what mission, who will comprise it, underneath what flag, with what mandate”.

Though Poland has considerably elevated defence spending because the warfare started, Prime Minister Donald Tusk mentioned Warsaw was not ready to ship troops.

“However we are going to help, additionally when it comes to logistics and political help, nations that can probably need to present such ensures sooner or later,” added Tusk.

“If we, Europeans, fail to spend massive on defence now, we will probably be pressured to spend 10 occasions extra if we don’t stop a wider warfare.”

Monday’s assembly additionally mentioned funding of elevated European defence spending and navy capabilities, doubtlessly via joint borrowing or what France known as different “modern financing” strategies.

Macron has known as for the EU to have interaction in widespread borrowing to cut back its reliance on US troops and weaponry, though Germany and the Netherlands have opposed such a transfer.

The dramatic shift within the US stance on Ukraine has pressured European leaders’ positions to evolve quickly.

European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen mentioned on Friday that she would suggest EU capitals permitting a brief easing of the bloc’s guidelines on deficits for defence spending particularly, a plan that officers mentioned had widespread help.

Scholz endorsed the concept of an “escape clause” to EU deficit guidelines, however stopped wanting supporting widespread borrowing.

Starmer has dedicated to setting out a “pathway” for UK defence spending to achieve 2.5 per cent of GDP.

“Europe must step up when it comes to spending and the commitments we offer,” he mentioned.

Reporting by Leila Abboud and Ben Corridor in Paris, Henry Foy in Brussels, Raphael Minder in Warsaw, Barney Jopson in Madrid, Laura Pitel in Berlin, and George Parker in London