Spain has ruled out any immediate discussion on deploying troops to Ukraine as part of a potential future peacekeeping mission, saying that the priority remains achieving peace first.

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"It is too early at the moment to talk about deploying troops in Ukraine. There is no peace at the moment, and the effort has to be to achieve it as soon as possible," Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday (Feb 17) during a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira.

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Albares stressed that any future deployment would require careful consideration.

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"When we have peace, we will have to see what conditions that peace requires. And whenever there is talk of any kind of deployment of forces, we have to consider what the mission is, who can make it up, under what flag, with what mandate," he added.

Germany and Poland oppose sending troops

Germany has also signalled reluctance to send troops to Ukraine, with a government source in Berlin saying that any European deployment must involve the US.

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"We will not participate in scenarios in which European and American security (policy) diverges, for example, if European soldiers are deployed without full US involvement," the source said.

Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made it clear that Poland would continue supporting Ukraine financially and militarily but had no plans to send troops.

"When it comes to Poland's support, the matter is settled... We are not planning to send Polish troops to Ukrainian territory," Tusk told reporters ahead of a security meeting in Paris.

UK signals readiness for deployment

The statements from Spain, Germany, and Poland come after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he was willing to send troops if necessary.

On Sunday, Starmer said the UK was prepared to put "our own troops on the ground if necessary" to ensure security in Europe.

Also read: UK's Keir Starmer to meet Trump next week after US freezes Europe out of Ukraine talks

His comments come amid growing uncertainty over Western support for Ukraine following a major policy shift from Washington. Last week, US President Donald Trump bypassed Kyiv and its European allies by speaking directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin about starting peace negotiations.

(With inputs from agencies)