Germany’s new chancellor has said that his country and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Friedrich Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany’s leader nearly three weeks ago.
On Monday, he said that “there are no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine — neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, and not by the Americans either."
“That means Ukraine can also defend itself by, for example, attacking military positions in Russia," Merz said at a forum organised by WDR public television. "Until a while ago, it couldn’t. … It can now.”
“We call this ‘long-range fire’ in jargon, also supplying Ukraine with weapons that attack military targets in the hinterland,” he added.
He didn't elaborate, and it wasn't clear whether he was referring to the easing of restrictions on longer-range weapons late last year.
The US move, two months before President-elect Trump takes office on Jan. 20, follows Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's months-long requests to use US weapons to hit Russian targets far from its border.
Kremlin: Quite dangerous
Commenting on Merz’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a decision to lift range restrictions would be “quite dangerous” and “run contrary to our efforts to reach a political settlement.”
"These potential decisions, if such decisions have indeed been made, run absolutely contrary to our aspirations for reaching a political settlement," Peskov said.
Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States.
Merz’s government has been tightlipped on whether it will supply Taurus long-range cruise missiles, something his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, refused to do and Merz advocated for as opposition leader. The government has said it will no longer provide full details of the weapons it is supplying to Ukraine, unlike Scholz’s administration, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity.”
Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles).
