European leaders clashed over the proposal to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, during an emergency summit in Paris on February 17.

The argument highlights the lack of consensus on how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace talks with Russia which kicked off in the the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) capital of Riyadh on February 18.

"European countries clashed over sending troops to Ukraine as they began a crisis meeting intended to reach a consensus on how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s peace talks with Russia," the Financial Times reported, citing sources at the Paris meeting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ruled out the possibility of any peacekeepers being deployed to Ukraine during a press conference on February 18 shortly after the first meeting with the US delegate broke up.

"Any deployment of any peacekeeping troops in Ukraine of any nationality - particularly from Nato members - cannot be allowed," Lavrov said. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that deploying foreign troops in Ukraine would be considered an escalation that would be met in kind.

Russian President Vladimir Putin began the war after Russia’s demands to provide “ironclad guarantees” that Ukraine would never be admitted to Nato were rejected by the US during negotiations in January 2022.

Both France and the UK have backed the idea of deploying European forces in Ukraine to police a proposed demilitarised zone (DMZ) between Ukraine and the Russian occupied territories. Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted a few days earlier at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) that most of the occupied territories will likely remain in Russian hands.

Any EU troops deployment in Ukraine must be backed by the US, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said following the informal meeting in Paris.

"I'm prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement. But there must be a US backstop because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again," he told Britain’s Daily Telegraph after the meeting.

"So, I will go to Washington next week to meet President Trump and to discuss what we see as the key elements of a lasting peace," the prime minister went on to say. The prime minister repeated the principle of "peace through strength" for Ukraine, adding that cutting aid to Kiev during the peace talks would be a “big mistake.”

The US has ruled out sending any of its own troops to Ukraine to enforce the peace and indicated that Europe will have to bear the brunt of the burden of aiding a post-war Ukraine.

But Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain have distanced themselves from the peacekeeper proposal, according to the FT’s sources. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after the meeting that Poland would not send troops to Ukraine as its job was to “defend Europe’s eastern border.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting, reportedly suggested deploying troops behind the future line of contact, a position that has sparked further divisions.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed discussions about troop deployments as "highly inappropriate" given the ongoing conflict. "Such a discussion is completely premature and now is not the right time for it," he said following the meeting in Paris, adding that the debate is "at the wrong time and on the wrong subject."

The controversy follows a statement by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who wrote in The Daily Telegraph that he was prepared to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a security guarantee for Kyiv. However, he made any deployment contingent on support from Washington. Starmer is expected to meet Trump in Washington next week to discuss long-term peace efforts.

European Union leaders made it clear at a meeting in Paris that they were willing to lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said.

"Ready and willing. That’s my take from today’s meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and willing to step up. To lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready and willing to invest a lot more in our security. The details will need to be decided but the commitment is clear," Rutte, who was at the meeting, said in a post on social media.

Eight European countries attended the emergency meeting called in 24 hours after the US made it clear that it was excluding Europe from the negotiations with Russia to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end. The meeting also involved the heads of the European Council, the European Commission and Nato.

The EU is considering Ukraine’s automatic accession to Nato in the event that Russia violates a future ceasefire in lieu of taking Ukraine into the alliance now.