A split has emerged among European nations over whether to match Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to send UK troops to Ukraine, as allies thrashed out a response to US president Donald Trump’s push for a deal with Vladimir Putin.
Divisions became clear as leaders attended an emergency summit in Paris amid fears Washington will cut its transatlantic defence commitments.
The emergency summit was called following Mr Trump’s plan to sideline Europe by holding Ukraine peace talks directly with Mr Putin.
Sir Keir said he would be willing to contribute to security guarantees by “putting our own troops on the ground if necessary,” echoing similar statements by France’s Emmanuel Macron.
But several other EU nations declined to follow suit, with Poland ruling out such a move.
“Poland will support Ukraine as it has done so far: organisationally, in accordance with our financial capabilities, in terms of humanitarian and military aid,” prime minister Donald Tusk told reporters before boarding a plane to Paris.
“We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. We will … give logistical and political support to the countries that will possibly want to provide such guarantees in the future, such physical guarantees.”
Meanwhile, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, indicated they were undecided on the issue and would need further assurances before committing troops.
Germany’s Olaf Scholz said future questions on security architecture would be addressed in due course, stressing that if a clear framework for putting boots on the ground was laid out, Germany would “not shy away” from putting boots on the ground.
The division comes ahead of a crunch meeting in Riyadh between Russia and the US on Tuesday, with secretary of state Marco Rubio leading a delegation that will seek an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has not been invited to the talks and will not accept the outcome if Kyiv is not involved, Volodymyr Zelensky said. He will travel to Saudi Arabia this week, but his visit is unrelated to the talks.
While the White House has not disclosed who exactly American officials will be meeting, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov flew in on Monday on behalf of Putin.
Sir Keir – who is due to visit the US later this month – said any settlement would need to be a “lasting peace deal, not just a pause for Putin to come again”.
He also said the “generational challenge” being faced by the west requires the UK and Europe to “step up capability” – echoing Mr Trump’s demands for European allies to spend more on defence.
