From Reuters: Germany signaled on Wednesday that it was ready to do more police training in Afghanistan, but said it could not commit more troops before it has reviewed its strategy early next year…

U.S. officials said Washington was also seeking 5,000 to 7,000 more troops from allies and German media reports on Wednesday estimated that Obama wanted Chancellor Angela Merkel to commit an additional 2,000 to 2,500 German soldiers.

“President Obama held a very important speech. He also took his time to work out the speech and his strategy and we will take our own time to assess what he said and discuss this with our allies,” Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

“We Germans are ready to do more in the area of police training, because that is the only route to self-sufficient security, to a handover of responsibilities.”

Merkel has said she will wait until after a planned Afghanistan conference, scheduled to take place on January 28 in London, before deciding whether to raise troop levels. (photo: Getty)