Berlin says 'premature' to talk about troops to Ukraine

Germany said Monday it was "premature" to discuss sending its troops to war-torn Ukraine as part of any potential peacekeeping force after Britain declared it was ready for such a move.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday he was willing to put "our own troops on the ground if necessary" in Ukraine to ensure security in Europe.

"We have repeatedly stated that, first of all, we have to wait and see whether and how peace will hopefully emerge for Ukraine," German deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann told reporters in Berlin.

"Then we will be able to talk about the conditions and how this can be implemented," she said, adding it was "premature to discuss (sending troops) at the present time".

The comments came as European leaders were due to meet in Paris on Monday to address Washington's shock policy shift on the Russia-Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week when he called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about starting negotiations to end the conflict.

US and Russian officials are now due to meet in Saudi Arabia Tuesday.

A German foreign ministry spokesman said it was "not a bad thing" there was direct contact between the Russians and Americans but called for the talks to focus on "finding a way to a durable and lasting peace".

He also stressed Europe should be involved in peace talks, and said he believed they ultimately would be.

"Peace talks without Europe ultimately make no sense at all, because many of the elements are in Europe's hands," he said, listing sanctions, frozen assets and security guarantees.

Hoffmann confirmed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would be at Monday's talks in Paris, but downplayed the chances of any swift decisions.

"We should perhaps not expect any concrete decisions now," she said, while adding it was clear the Europeans had to agree on a "common approach and a common position in this new situation".