Kornelius told dpa the government is still working out what form Germany's involvement will take, with the question set for discussion Friday at a meeting of the Franco-German Defense and Security Council.
That session will convene at the Nörvenich air base in North Rhine-Westphalia, ahead of a joint cabinet meeting between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron in nearby Brühl, near Cologne.
The shift comes just two days after roughly 25 heads of state and government met in Paris for a coalition of the willing summit, where leaders agreed to hold the group's first joint exercises for forces it intends to deploy inside Ukraine once a ceasefire takes hold.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday the drills would be staged in Poland this fall, led primarily by French and British troops, describing the goal as preparing the coalition "to provide real security guarantees for Ukraine and the region".
The exercises themselves are likely to be modest in physical scope. According to dpa, they are designed mainly to test command staff decision-making and the logistics of troop deployment, typically without moving actual equipment or personnel in the field.
Behind the drills lies a broader plan, agreed by European leaders in Berlin in December 2025, to stand up a multinational force under European command capable of underpinning any future ceasefire. Macron said Monday that force is now ready to deploy.
Merz, for his part, said in Paris that the coalition is prepared to play a significant role in guaranteeing Ukraine's security once fighting stops, working in close coordination with Washington — though he left the specifics of Germany's role open. "The nature and scope of Germany's contribution will be decided by the federal government and the Bundestag", he said.
The coalition of the willing, which first met in January 2025, has grown to 37 countries, mostly European, with non-European participants including Canada, Japan and Turkey.
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Source: PAP