Germany raises prospect of military forces to secure Ukraine peace

Germany has raised the prospect of a military involvement in securing a potential ceasefire in Ukraine during a meeting of Kiev's allies in Paris.

"This could include, for example, us registering forces for Ukraine on neighbouring NATO territory after a ceasefire," Chancellor Friedrich Merz said following the meeting.

"The nature and scope of a German contribution must and will be decided by the federal government and the German Bundestag as soon as the conditions mentioned have been clarified," Merz said.

"I want to say for myself and also for the federal government: We are not ruling anything out in principle."

This could mean that even the deployment of Bundeswehr soldiers in Ukraine itself is not ruled out.

For months, allies have been discussing how to secure a possible ceasefire and protect Ukraine from new attacks by Russia. France and Britain have been the driving forces behind this effort.

Germany, on the other hand, has taken the position that the question will only arise once the terms of a ceasefire have been clarified.

Now Merz is changing course: He has declared his fundamental willingness for Germany to participate militarily; However, it remains unclear how many German soldiers would be involved and what tasks they would take on.