A slim majority of Germans are in favour of deploying Bundeswehr forces as part of a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine to monitor any ceasefire that is agreed, a poll showed on Tuesday.

European leaders, alarmed at being sidelined from talks on the future security of Ukraine, are considering possible contributions to any future peace mission as U.S. and Russian officials meet to discuss ending the three-year-old war.

A Forsa poll for Stern magazine said that 49% of Germans favoured such a deployment while 44% opposed it and 7% abstained.

In western Germany, 52% of people backed an involvement while 65% of those in former Communist eastern states opposed it, the survey said. It also showed that 83% of voters for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would reject deployment.

A defence ministry spokesperson said on Monday that Germany would not shy away from contributing if a framework were set. However, any decision would probably be for a new German government to take after a federal election on Sunday.

The poll was conducted on February 13 and 14.