A Peace Deal for Ukraine Could Test German Reluctance to Deploy Troops

A long road remains for any peace deal in Ukraine, despite weeks of furious diplomacy and optimistic predictions from President Trump. But in Germany, political leaders are already debating a crucial detail for any final agreement — whether the German Army will send troops to help keep the peace.

The debate, which has intensified in recent weeks, will help determine how much of a so-called security guarantee Europe alone could provide to Ukraine after the war concludes. It is important for Chancellor Friedrich Merz as he attempts to re-establish German leadership on the continent and around the world.

And, in many ways, it is the latest episode in Germany’s increasingly evolving relationship with national defense and military service, spurred on by Russian aggression and American detachment from Europe.

After successive governments allowed the military to atrophy with the end of the Cold War, Germany’s army is being rebuilt with record spending.

Polls show a majority of voters approve. But Germans remain largely reluctant to serve in their armed forces and are not flocking to their local recruitment offices. The country is so in need of soldiers that the defense ministry is expected to present a new plan to reinstate a watered-down version of a military draft, which is expected to pass a cabinet vote this week. (Under this proposal, 18-year-old men must complete a survey assessing their fitness to serve, and the military would try to convince those best suited to serve to enlist before going to a conscription option.)

That reticence around the deployment of and serving in the military is now being tested by the prospect of sending German troops to patrol what would effectively be a front line facing Russia in Ukraine, where Nazi soldiers committed atrocities in World War II.