Emmanuel Macron took a veiled dig at Germany after chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out donating long-range missiles to Ukraine.

The French president urged Western governments to do “whatever we can” to ensure Vladimir Putin does not secure a victory in Ukraine as he hosted more than 20 international leaders in Paris on Monday night.

In a bid to cement France’s backing for war-torn Ukraine, he also said deploying Western troops there “could not be ruled out” and dropped his long-standing opposition to funding artillery ammunition from outside the EU.

Mr Macron said Russia’s defeat was vital to ensure “Europe’s collective security”, speaking to reporters after the hastily-arranged summit.

“We will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war,” the French leader added.

Responding to questions over the prospect of Western soldiers being deployed to Ukraine, he said: “There is no consensus to officially back any ground troops.

“That said, nothing should be excluded. We will do everything that we can to make sure that Russia does not prevail.”

After the issue was raised publicly by Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, earlier on Monday, Mr Macron said it had been discussed in a “very free and direct” manner.

“Many of the people who say ‘never, never’ today were the same people who said ‘never, never tanks, never, never planes, never, never long-range missiles, never, never this’ two years ago,” the French president said.

“I remind you that two years ago, many around this table said: ‘We will offer sleeping bags and helmets.”

His remarks were seen as a veiled swipe towards German leader Mr Scholz, who attended the talks, for his decision to send helmets but not weapons to Ukraine in the early stages after the invasion.

The German chancellor ruled out sending Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range of up to 310 miles, to Ukraine on Monday.

Instead, Mr Macron announced an international coalition to provide Kyiv with more middle and long-ranged munitions.

France, like Britain, has already donated its air-launched cruise missile, the Scalp.

The more aggressive support for Ukraine comes amid mounting concerns over a stalled US aid package of $60 billion and the prospect of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

This included a significant French U-turn to back EU funds being used to buy artillery ammunition from outside the bloc.

Mr Macron said he would join a €1.5 billion Czech Republic-led effort to secure 800,000 shells from third countries.

Paris had previously insisted that EU cash spent on arming Ukraine should be channelled through European defence producers to expand the continent’s industry.