European efforts to create security arrangements for Ukraine are shifting from sending troops to other alternatives as they face political and logistical constraints, and the prospect of Russia and the United States opposing their plans, officials said.
France, which has been working closely with Britain to come up with options, will host 30 leaders and delegations from around 30 countries on Thursday, part of what has become a "coalition of the willing" to try and flesh out some ideas.
But while London and Paris have been working for weeks on a plan to send thousands of troops to Ukraine to help safeguard a future ceasefire, diplomats say there is growing acceptance that sending such a force is not the likeliest outcome.
"They are taking a step back from ground troops and trying to re-dimension what they were doing to something that could be more sensible," said one European diplomat.
Said another: "When Ukraine was in a better position, the idea of sending troops appealed. But now, with the situation on the ground and the U.S administration as it is, it's not very sexy."
Ukraine has long said that any peace deal would require firm security guarantees from the West to prevent any repeat of attacks by Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who both visited the White House last month, have each suggested their countries could contribute thousands of troops to a future force. But they have also so far fruitlessly sought some form of "backstop" from Washington, without specifying what this entails.
Moscow says it will never agree to any proposal for NATO countries to send troops to Ukraine.
