PARIS — France will pull its 4,000 troops out of Afghanistan on the same staggered timetable as the U.S. withdrawal, President Nicolas Sarkozy said today, helping pave the way for drawdowns by other allies.

Sarkozy’s announcement comes just hours after President Barack Obama said the United States planned to begin bringing troops home this summer. France’s withdrawal will take place in coordination with allies and Afghan officials and “in a proportional manner comparable to the withdrawal of American troops,” Sarkozy’s office said.

Obama announced an initial drawdown of 10,000 troops in two phases — with 5,000 troops coming home this summer and 5,000 more by the end of the year. An additional 20,000-plus are to follow by September 2012.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed Obama’s announcement, saying his country shares the goal of reducing the German contingent of 4,900 at the end of this year. However, Germany has not yet settled on details.

Britain has already said its nearly 10,000 troops will be out by at least 2015 if not a year earlier. About 450 personnel on temporary missions are due out by February.

Plans to pull back reflects in part the long, costly commitment in lives and money as well as the slow but growing autonomy of Afghanistan security forces.