German Chancellor Friedrich Merz supports providing Ukraine with long-range missiles to strike Russia, the Financial Times headlines, BTA reported in its press review.
The German Chancellor has supported Ukrainian military strikes deep into Russian territory after earlier pledging to supply Kiev with German long-range missiles.
Germany, Britain, France and the US are lifting all restrictions on the range of weapons delivered to Ukraine, Merz said yesterday. Paris, London and Washington have delivered long-range missiles to Kiev and have already authorized strikes on Russian territory, the British publication said. Merz's position, however, contrasts with that of his predecessor, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, the Financial Times notes.
The former chancellor has repeatedly rejected requests from Kiev and its allies to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with German Taurus missiles, which have a precision guidance system and can inflict massive damage on structures such as bridges and bunkers.
“There is no longer a limit on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans“, Merz said yesterday in Berlin.
“This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example by attacking military positions in Russia. Until some time ago, it could not do this (. . .) Now (Ukraine) can do it. "In slang, we call this long-range shelling," Merz added.
The conservative chancellor made the comments after three days of Russian air strikes on Ukraine, carried out with more than 1,000 drones and missiles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said decisions to provide Ukraine with longer-range missiles were "potentially dangerous" and could thwart "attempts to reach an agreement" with Kiev.
The Taurus cruise missile's range of more than 500 km is greater than that of the Storm Shadow missiles and “Scalp“, supplied by Britain and France respectively, and the ATAKMS tactical missile system provided to Ukraine by the United States.
These British, French and American missiles were first used against military targets in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions in November, the “Financial Times“ indicates.
Separately, Kiev has also developed its own long-range “Neptune“ missiles, as well as drones.
Merz made his statement at a time when European leaders are racing to draw up a plan to increase pressure on Moscow after US President Donald Trump signaled that he is willing to leave them to deal with the conflict in Ukraine on their own.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet Merz on Thursday in Aachen, western Germany, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will receive the Charlemagne Prize.
British officials said Starmer would talk to Merz about increasing economic pressure on Russia and providing Ukraine with the financial and military support it needs to continue its fight.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Berlin on Monday, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported. “Spiegel“.
As Washington's commitment to Ukraine's security appears to be weakening, French, British and German leaders are increasingly divided over how much military support can be provided to Ukraine after the war.
France and Britain, the two initiators of the so-called “coalition of the willing“, insist that the original plan to deploy peacekeeping forces in Ukraine is still feasible.
Other countries, including Germany, are more skeptical, as the United States continues to oppose the idea and has not committed to a “backstop“ security that European countries are seeking to deploy such forces.
According to participants in the negotiations, Starmer and Macron continue to support the proposal to deploy peacekeeping forces to maintain Europe's participation in the ceasefire talks and maintain Ukrainian morale.
A European official said the peacekeeping plan was “dead“ because it was “absurd without Trump's help, and he is unwilling to provide it“.
However, a French diplomat countered that reports of the proposal's death were “not only greatly exaggerated“ but also “completely false“, adding that the countries were still working on their plans “at a normal pace“.
Germany and other allies of Ukraine are lifting restrictions on the range of weapons sent to Kiev, the British newspaper “Guardian“ headlines.
The Kremlin described the decision as “potentially dangerous“ and indicated that it would become an obstacle to reaching any peace agreement. “If these decisions were indeed taken, they are in complete contradiction with our aspirations for a political settlement“, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Merz, who has been in power for less than three weeks, did not want to answer the question of whether Germany was preparing to send its long-range “Taurus“ missiles to Kiev. While in opposition, he supported providing these missiles to Ukraine, something his predecessor Olaf Scholz refused to do.
After taking office, Merz took a more cautious approach, saying that Germany risked giving too much away to Moscow if it spoke openly about its plans, and adding that Putin, who speaks fluent German, should not be able to figure out what Berlin's intentions were just by watching the news on German television. Last week, Merz said he favoured a "strategic ambiguity" approach.
However, there is speculation in Berlin that he may be about to make a public statement committing to the supply of longer-range weapons - possibly Taurus missiles, the Guardian reports.
Merz justified the change in policy by Germany and its allies by saying that only by removing restrictions on the range of weapons will Ukraine be able to defend itself.
Western leaders have previously noted that increasing the range of weapons for Kiev is too provocative and risks escalating the conflict with nuclear-armed Russia, which has said that the use of long-range weapons would be interpreted as direct participation in the war of the country that has them. provided.
Merz has been particularly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying his dismissive approach to negotiations that could lead to a cessation of hostilities reveals his intention to continue the war.
“Putin clearly views proposals for negotiations as a sign of weakness,” he said.
So far, Germany, the second-largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the United States, has not supplied Kiev with weapons with a range of more than 70 km.
During his election campaign ahead of the February 23 election, Merz said he was ready to consider supplying Taurus missiles when he took office, but only together with Germany’s Western allies who have either already supplied such weapons or possess them and intend to do so.
Merz said the main Kiev's Western allies have lifted all "limitations on the scope of arms supplies" to Ukraine, the French newspaper Le Monde headlined.
The German Chancellor announced that the US, France and Britain were joining Germany in this change in military concept, but none of these countries have yet confirmed this.
Merz, however, did not specify whether his comments would have any impact on future arms supplies from Berlin to Ukraine, especially with regard to the long-range Taurus missiles. During the administration of Olaf Scholz, Germany refused to supply Kiev with Taurus missiles, expressing concerns about an escalation of relations with Russia.
Before taking office in early May, Merz had stated that he supported the supply of these missiles, which have a range of over 500 km and can reach deep into Russian territory. Since then, however, he has been more ambiguous, stressing that for strategic reasons he will no longer give details about the weapons he will send to Ukraine so as not to provoke an escalation, Le Monde notes.
“After the last three weeks, no one can seriously accuse us of not having exhausted all available diplomatic means“, Merz said, adding that Kiev's allies have redoubled their efforts to start talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“Even if the proposal for a meeting in the Vatican does not meet with Russia's approval, “we must prepare for this war to last longer than we want or can imagine“, the German chancellor summed up. Recent direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Turkey - the first since 2022 - ended without a result, Le Monde points out.